


Legacy of Valor: an Always a Ranger Mini-Series

by jtrevizo



Series: Always a Ranger [14]
Category: Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Power Rangers S.P.D.
Genre: AU - Always a Ranger Series, F/M, Gen, SPD/DT Crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-23
Updated: 2013-08-09
Packaged: 2017-11-12 18:05:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 30,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/494139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jtrevizo/pseuds/jtrevizo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>PR DT/SPD crossover, set in the Always a Ranger AU. Space Patrol Delta is still going strong years after B-Squad moves on. So when the SPD is attacked the survivors make a decision to get help from the past, making for some complicated interactions. (Reading Always a Ranger and Duty and Honor is suggested)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Out of Retirement

Reefside, CA  
January, 2009

“So you are absolutely sure that you are okay with this?” Kimberly Hart-Oliver asked as she bounced her nearly 2 year old toddler daughter, Beth Trini Oliver on her hip as she stared at Jason and Aisha, who stood before her in the middle of the Oliver residence’s living room.

“Kim, you know we’re good with babysitting Beth while you and Tommy go to Trent’s book signing. We wouldn’t have offered otherwise,” replied Jason, holding his hands out to indicate he was just waiting on Kim to hand over his god daughter to him.

“Mama go?” Beth asked in her still newly developed sentence building way, making Kim’s heart crack just a bit more at leaving her behind. 

“We can take her with us if it is any inconvenience…” demurred Kim again, her hand unconsciously ghosting over Beth’s dark locks.

“Beautiful, you need to relax,” said Tommy as he moved behind Kim and wrapped an arm around her waist and gave a sheepish look to both Aisha and Jason. “You’d think we’d never left her alone with her god parents before…”

Kim’s head swung up and back to look up at Tommy and gave him a light smile. She didn’t know why she was so concerned. Aisha and Jason, along with several other friends and relatives, besides Beth’s own day care had taken care of her. Yet for some reason Kim was being overly concerned.

“Sorry…” Kim replied with an apologetic look as she hefted Beth over to where Jason anxiously awaited, his hands wrapping around Beth’s waist instantly.

“Unca Jase!”

“That’s right princess!” answered Jason with a goofy grin as he held his god daughter in his grip.

“It’s alright Kim, we get it… but you gotta let her god parents get their time, or else she’s gonna think you don’t trust us,” remarked Aisha as she leaned in to tickle Beth’s chin, making the toddler begin to giggle.

“Well, we wouldn’t want that,” announced Tommy as he turned Kim in his arms and lightly kissed her before pulling back quickly. “Come on Kim. We’ve got people waiting on us.”

At that Kim nodded and with a brief kiss goodbye for Beth, Tommy and Kim headed out the door, leaving Aisha and Jason with little Beth Trini.

“Finally… I thought they’d never leave,” said Jason as he turned Beth in his arms before sitting down with her on the couch. “So, what totally embarrassing story about your parents should we tell you today…”

Aisha plopped down beside them and fought hard not to laugh.

-x-

At the huge chain bookstore in downtown Surfside, Tommy and Kim entered the main doors looking for the signage pointing to Trent’s graphic novel signing. It was the first to promote his book and he’d said that the event was only for a few hours, and that they’d all go to dinner afterwards. But once Tommy located the amassed group of people crowding the back corner of the bookstore, he wondered if the former white ranger had underestimated things. He would have sworn there were a few hundred people packed into the space and hoped the fire marshal wasn’t coming by to check on them.

Within the mass of people Tommy was able to see near the front a group that he immediately recognized and turned his head to Kim with a big smile.

“Found them,” he said simply as he caught her hand tightly. 

Tommy began cutting a swath through the milling crowd, Kim right behind. She was instantly glad she’d left Beth with Jason and Aisha now. It was a madhouse and she couldn’t comprehend subjecting their little girl to this. 

“Hey!” called out Ethan as he caught sight of Dr. O and Kim coming through the crowd. “Looks like we have company.”

Kira and Conner turned to look as a near unit, their hands clasped together as they looked out over the crowds to see Tommy’s taller form leading the way as Kim’s more petite body trailed in his wake.

“They’re here,” Kira quickly relayed to Trent where he sat behind the large table, stacks of his comic series complied into the new graphic novel set to his left for those people who didn’t already have one in hand for him to sign.

“This turnout is crazy… you would think he was you or something,” joked Conner to Kira, making her roll her eyes at her fiancé. 

Ahead of Tommy and Kim people parted slowly as they got to the front of the queued area and the security looked to Trent’s manager who had already met the Oliver’s before and waved them in. The guard pulled away the barrier and let Kim and Tommy past to join the others.

“Sorry we’re late,” said Tommy as he made his way to where the others were waiting, Kim breaking away from him to hug Kira, Ethan and Conner. 

“You’re not late. When I got here there was already a line. I can’t believe the turn-out,” said Trent quietly, his eyes drifting to catch Tommy’s and the older man gave him a smile.

“I’m not at all surprised,” interrupted Kim as she pulled away from Tommy, walking around the table to wrap her arms around the younger man, giving him a hug. “This graphic novel is wonderful and this is your home… everyone who knew you or likes your work is here, looking for a chance to show it.”

“Still, this is a bit overwhelming. Is it like this at your record signings Kira?” Trent asked, still stunned by the crowd.

“Worse. You should be glad that you mostly have nerdy guys and goth girls. I get the pre-teen boys with crushes… you would not believe some of the fan mail Conner has seen and threatened to burn,” she replied with a laugh.

Conner frowned even as he pulled her a bit closer. In the last year and a half of her music career she’d had more than one stalker that he’d contemplated using his powers on to ‘get rid of’, but had ended up having her manager file restraining orders instead. Still, the fact was that she was his and in a few more months he’d make it official.

Finally the manager of the bookstore made his way to the front of the table Trent was at and raised his arms, signaling for silence. After what seemed several minutes the crowd had hushed enough for him to be heard.

“Thank you everyone for this enthusiastic turnout for our own talented, artistic comic creator, Trent Fernandez. He’ll be signing copies of his new graphic novel, “Danger Ranger”; if you haven’t already bought one, they are here at the table and you can buy them before you get them signed. We have a set amount of Mr. Fernandez’s time so please keep the visiting when you get your books signed to a minimum. Thanks again!”

With that the first person in line, a girl around 12 with dark clothes and big blue eyes made her way with her parents, comic in hand.

Smiling, Trent took the copy of his graphic novel from her and opened it to the title page. He glanced down to see the dedication to his parents, Anton Mercer and then Dr. O, Kim and the team. His eyes swung briefly to them all and the back to the waiting girl.

“Who should I make this out to?”

“Your biggest fan Emily!”

With a flourish Trent signed the copy in front of him, his looping script in black felt pen covering the white page before he closed it and pushed it across the table to her.

“Thanks for coming Emily.”

With a little squeal the girl grabbed her book and raced off to show everyone her signed copy, her parents behind her, wondering if this was the first of these events they’d have to take her to…

Once the first person had gotten her autograph the line never stopped moving for more than a minute or two as Trent signed copy after copy, occasionally shaking a hand or looking up as he signed as someone took his picture. At one point he glanced to Ethan, noting the former blue ranger discreetly sneaking a peek at his watch. At the movement he checked his own and saw they’d been at it for over an hour and the line didn’t seem any shorter.

“We’ll get outta here eventually,” said Trent in a stage whisper between signings to the others, Kim and Tommy looking proudly at him as they watched the excited people still standing in line, books in hand waiting their turn to meet Trent.

“If only we could speed this up…” remarked Conner with a small laugh, thoughts of super speed filling his head as he imagined Trent speed-signing books as quickly as he could attack Tyranodrones back in the day.

As if prompted by his words, instead of speeding up, the room seemed to suddenly just stop. Looking around, Ethan noted everyone in front of them was standing still as statues. People were held in mid-conversation, arms, legs, or heads frozen in place, even mid step. The only ones seemingly unaffected by whatever was going on were the former rangers.

“Uh, guys… anyone else notice no one else is moving?” Kira asked, her hand tightly gripping Conner’s.

“Okay, this is weird,” announced Ethan.

“What could be…” started Kim, her eyes glancing to Tommy, worry obvious within. 

Years of being rangers before the Dino Thunder team had ingrained in both of them a healthy dose of vigilance; this was not a normal occurrence and that usually lead to something that more often than not wasn’t pleasant.

From behind them a bright light started to emanate, growing larger and stronger before it opened to a blinding oval of pure white light which suddenly revealed a lone figure. Just as quickly as it had developed the overwhelming brightness faded, leaving the group staring at what was obvious to them all – a power ranger.

“Dino Thunder rangers,” spoke the uniformed woman, her armor shades of blue and silver, her helmet covering her visage completely.

“Should we even guess how you know us?” asked Conner, his hand unconsciously holding Kira’s tightly.

“I’m the Nova Ranger and as you might guess, I’m from the future. I’m in desperate need of your help…”

“And you need us why?” asked Tommy, his natural leadership immediately coming to he fore.

“Because the commanders of the defeated Emperor Grumm’s army have returned and have captured the headquarters of the rangers, including almost every ranger, trainee and support staff member, a total of over 500 people.”

The Dino Thunder team all looked around at one another. An entire organization that trained and supported rangers? And there was obviously concern in her voice as she announced the situation to them. Yet the most important issue was she was saying there were over 500 people needing her help, and by extension, their help. 

“Not that we’re at all adverse to helping rangers,” started Trent as he turned in his chair, the person he was starting to sign a book for paused in mid lean, book in hand, “but if we go with you, what happens here?”

He knew that of all of them, if he left and time went back to normal, he’d be missed and questions would start being asked. But if this Nova Ranger had come all this way for their help he wasn’t the type to turn them away. He’d learned better than that from his team mates…

“I will be able to bring you back to this exact moment,” she insisted, knowing somehow what he was concerned about. “That isn’t a problem at all… no one will ever know you were ever gone.”

Trent looked to his other team mates. He wouldn’t be missed, Dr. O and Kim would be back before Beth even knew they were gone… 

“I say we go,” said Ethan, his hands in front of him as he crunched his knuckles as if getting ready for a fight.

Conner glanced to Kira and when she nodded he turned to the Nova Ranger as well, “we’re in too.”

“I’m coming,” added Trent as he pushed out of his chair to rise and move to stand with Ethan, Conner and Kira.

“Kim?” questioned Tommy as he looked at his wife and former team mate. They had a child to worry about; he had to know she was okay with this.

“I guess we’re all going,” she announced with a determined look that made Tommy’s insides melt. He loved this woman for so many reasons, this fire among them.

At that the Nova Ranger lifted her wrist to allow her to activate some devise on her arm where a morpher would have been. With a rush of wind the light within the portal behind her increased and the Dino Thunder team moved unconsciously towards the space. Once they were a few feet of the center of the brilliant oval they could see something clearly on the other side. The Nova Ranger stepped into the center of the light and was gone, but the hole in space and time remained. 

With the leap of faith reserved for power rangers Tommy took a step through the portal, Kim a half step behind him. Then Conner and Kira slipped through, Trent and Ethan pulling up the rear as the light waned before going out completely as the last Dino Thunder ranger stepped into the future.


	2. Family Lines

With a pop and snap the light portal from the past closed behind them as the Nova Ranger and the Dino Thunder team arrived in the midst of a large concrete bunker. There wasn’t much to the area – large central table, machinery, lights, viewing screens… a command center if they had ever seen one. There was one doorway leading into darkness that probably led to additional space, and there was a single occupant in the room besides themselves and the Nova Ranger.

The Nova Ranger didn’t even pause for more than a second to verify that everyone had made it through the time portal before she moved to greet the other ranger, who though was in his uniform, had his white and dark blue helmet perched on the large table he was standing over. He looked up at her as she approached and sighed in relief.

“About time,” he said as he gave her a brief hug. “Everything went okay?”

“I would say so,” she answered with a wave of her arm, indicating the six members of the Dino Thunder team.

“Wow… they’re so… young…” he replied and watched her give him a look that he knew meant he was being stupid and followed up with, “I guess that makes sense; they are from the past after all.”

With a small punch to the other ranger’s arm the Nova Ranger turned back to the collected Dino Thunder team. They all seemed a bit disoriented, which she couldn’t blame them for. The fact was that not only were they out of their time but they had a huge task before them. Gruumm’s people were not to be trifled with lightly.

“Whoa…” commented Ethan quietly as he glanced around the space they’d landed in.

“Doesn’t seem very impressive for the future,” noted Trent, focusing on the bare concrete surrounding them.

“She did say they were in trouble,” remarked Conner, pointing to the two rangers in the center of the room next to what he guessed was the ‘battle map’.

“So if this isn’t their SPD building, perhaps they’re on the run?” Kira added thoughtfully.

“More than likely this is a secondary base,” confirmed Kim, feeling the weariness and anxiety that seemed to fill the room.

“So, what’s our next move?” Tommy asked, directing his question to the Nova Ranger.

Slowly she moved away from the other ranger and came closer to them. She had a few choices on how to go about this. She could start with the situation on the ground at the SPD headquarters. She could explain the reason for coming to get them. Or she could start off with…

Shaking her head briefly; she knew that there was time for other things…

“History lesson first,” announced Nova. “Unfortunately, while the Dino Thunder team has been to the aid of the Space Patrol Delta organization, none of you remember it.”

The Dino Thunder team looked around at one another… they’d been to the future and they didn’t remember it? When had that happened? And what had the SPD done to make them forget it?

A sudden burst of inspiration hit Kim and she turned to Tommy, her hand falling naturally on his arm, bringing his gaze to bear on her.

“Tommy, remember before you defeated Zeltrax the first time there was that instance when you called me saying you couldn’t remember what had happened to you and you were covered in bruises?” Kim recalled, her eyes widening at the memory.

“Yeah… we’d left the school and I had this blinding headache… I’d been concerned I’d had my mind controlled…” he replied with a hushed, somber tone as he recalled the incident in question and his fear something had taken control of him.

“That was the B-Squad at the time,” stated Nova apologetically. “Emperor Gruumm had tried going into the past to change the future so the SPD team went back as well to stop them.”

“And we helped?” asked Trent, genuinely curious as to what had happened.

“Yes. And they had to wipe your memories so you wouldn’t affect the future. Of course it wasn’t the first time; your team had worked with the B-squad, the first time when you’d been brought to the future…”

“So you know us…” Conner questioned, his back straightening a bit as he tried to put together the evidence Nova was presenting them that they’d been both to the future and helped in the past SPD time travelers…

“Very well in fact,” Nova said lightly before she changed her tone to that of a leader. “Part of the training at SPD is learning about previous ranger teams.”

“Wow, I guess we’re part of the ranger legacy, huh?” remarked Ethan with a smirk, earning him a look from Kim that made his smile instantly fade.

“You are… all of you; some more than others,” she stated meaningfully before she heard someone clearing their throat behind her. She swung around to note the Omega Ranger standing there, his eyes pinned on her and his foot tapping causing her to flush behind her helmet at her poor manners.

“Sorry. I really need to get us moving on the reason you are here – helping rescue the others at SPD headquarters. First some introductions are in order. Although you won’t remember him, this is the Omega Ranger, Sam. He’s my team partner and the reason the two of us aren’t inside the HQ,” said Nova.

With the introduction Sam smiled and moved to shake everyone’s hands.

“It’s good to see you again, well, expect for you Kim… you hadn’t joined the team when I worked with them last,” Sam said as he moved along the somewhat confused group.

“So we’ve met your colleague here before, what about you?” asked Kira as the Nova Ranger anxiously moved to the other side of the table, her hands fiddling with the weapon at her belt.

She’d known this was going to happen. When Sam had suggested this she’d been adamantly against it. One mistake here and things in the past would never be the same. She wouldn’t be the same. But they needed the help and she knew that the Dino Thunder team could help her and Sam save all of the SPD. 

Indecision wracking her, Nova swung her head towards the Dino Thunder team; her visor directed at Kim and Tommy. Slowly she moved back around the table, standing at near attention in front of the Dino Thunder team before she took a deep breath and moved to unlatch her helmet. Gradually she pulled it off and then stared at the two older rangers, dark brown hair framing a soft face set with doe brown eyes and a tentative half smile.

There was a long pause as she studied the people before her and them her in return. Memories were one thing, she reminded herself, but physical reality… She smiled and took another deep breath to gather her courage. She could do this… God knew she had inherited a fighting spirit.

“I’ve known all of you all my life… My parents named me Elizabeth Trini Oliver,” she said softly.

Tommy stared, his eyes widening as he attempted to digest what this woman had just said. Around them the others all watched in stunned silence. And beside Tommy, Kim felt herself go pale, her skin turning to ice before she fell in a dead faint to the floor.

Everyone immediately moved at Kim’s sudden collapse, kneeling around the pink ranger, including Beth. She was a few feet away but she watched in awe as her father moved to slide his arm behind her mother’s back as he slowly eased her into a tender embrace. 

She remembered them being like that when she was a child. After she’d become a teen she ignored it, finding her parent’s intimacy too… ‘icky’ and now she had her own life to live and rarely saw them. But this incarnation of her parents, still young and very much in love… she recalled that she would have been shy of two years old at the time she pulled them from, and it was like a new revelation for her to watch them like this with an adult’s perspective of the connection between them.

Kim’s eyes slowly fluttered open, taking in the worried faces of her husband and team mates.

“You really have to stop doing that,” commented Tommy lowly as he carefully helped Kim stand up from their position on the floor, prompting everyone else to stand as well.

“After all these years you’d think I wouldn’t be surprised anymore,” she replied with a hollow laugh that the shock and disbelief in her eyes as her head fought to wrap around the idea that this woman, this ranger before her was her daughter.

“Sorry mom… dad. I forgot mom has a habit of taking surprises badly.”

The reference to Kim’s previous incidents was intentional and Tommy and Kim looked as a unit to stare at the Nova Ranger’s features, looking for one concrete thing that would prove or disprove her claim. While baby Beth’s features were still changing, the look of the woman before them felt like part memory and part hopefully fantasy; she was everything that they could have ever wanted in a child and now she was here and real…

“Really? You’re their daughter?” asked Conner, stunned as he looked at the woman and saw the little baby he and the other members of the team had been so protective of following her birth.

“What? You really think that I wouldn’t end up in the family business Uncle Conner?” she asked with a half smile that Conner recognized as Tommy’s.

The former red ranger started at that, the realization hitting him and the others like a bolt of lightning that the woman before them had Kim’s eyes and Tommy’s hair and… 

“Holy shit! She really is Beth!” said Ethan as he stared at the woman in front of them, helmet under her arm and standing in a strange mirror image to how Kimberly normally would…

The entire team seemed frozen in place as they processed the fact that little Beth was all grown up and had come to her parents and her aunts and uncles for help in her present.

“So, when are we exactly?” asked Trent as he tried to get a handle on the spinning of his head, trying to figure how many years had passed between Beth’s first birthday and now.

“It’s 2040,” said Sam suddenly, breaking the attention to his superior officer and focusing it on the mission.

“And where are the rest of the SPD?” asked Kira.

“That’s part of the problem,” started Beth before she ran her hand through her shoulder length chestnut hair in a mirror image of her father when he got frustrated, causing Kim to give Tommy a wry look.

“We’re all that escaped the SPD headquarters,” Sam explained sorrowfully.

“What?” exclaimed Ethan, surprised by the information.

“I had just found Sam in the past; actually B-squad’s past, around the time they defeated Emperor Gruumm,” Beth started to explain, “In my time, now, they didn’t know I had been time travelling, searching for him so when they attacked I was gone. I think they must have assumed they would get everyone when they attacked the HQ.”

“But they didn’t…” pointed out Tommy deliberately.

“No, but now we need help to liberate SPD headquarters and send them back where they came from.”

“So if your headquarters are occupied, where are we?” questioned Conner, wanting confirmation on what they were up against and what they had available to them.

“Auxiliary command center. For… emergencies,” stated Sam with a small sigh, obviously disappointed in their circumstances than anything else.

“Okay, so you have a building full of hostages and no way of getting them out yourselves,” started Tommy, his hand gripping Kim’s arm even as his heart and soul recognized the truth the Nova Ranger… Beth was telling them. “What do you think just the six of us can do to help you?”

“You still have your powers. When the Solar Rangers arrived on Earth in 2007 you didn’t lose your powers, you just stopped using them,” Beth stated, memories of the story from her parents, aunts and uncles were very specific on the details of that event. “Which means you can help us defeat Gruumm’s former allies.”

The way Beth related the circumstances of the Dino Thunder team’s retirement was just another affirmation that she was really their daughter. And in the end, they had responsibilities; not just as parents but as rangers. Tommy looked down at Kim before they both turned to the others.

“Anyone not packing?” he asked even as he and Kim brushed their hands over their wrists where their gauntlets still sat.

Sure, they might have been retired, happily living with nearly 2 year old Beth in Reefside but there was always that thought in the back of their minds that being a ranger was never over.

“You taught us all better than that Dr. O,” answered Conner as he, Kira, Ethan and Trent all pulled aside their long winter wear sleeves to show their Dino Thunder gauntlets.

“Well then, I guess you have a power ranger team,” replied Tommy as he turned back towards… his daughter.

“Good, now let’s start figuring out how we’re saving SPD…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note: Okay, I did the math on this: April 14, 2007 is Beth’s birth date. In my story “Footsteps,” Beth is 22 when she graduates SPD academy which is set in 2029. SPD wiki states the Nova Ranger is from 2040, which for this story is set in January 2040, making her 32. Considering her parentage she looks young for her age and passes for younger when we see her in Endings 2. And for more clarification, seeing the actress in Endings 2 made me think of what a grown up Beth would be like and this story (originally a 1-shot) was born.


	3. Making a Plan

After being pointed by Sam in the direction of the ‘personal waste facilities’ Kira, Conner, Ethan and Trent, who had all been at the book signing much earlier than Tommy or Kim, had taken a brief ‘bathroom break’; the end result being their leaving Dr. O and Kim alone with Nova and Omega, i.e. Beth and Sam, in the main part of the auxiliary command center.

After using the facilities the younger members of the team had regrouped, pausing outside the entryway to that main ‘war room’, observing the sight before them where the four rangers, two in uniform and three of whom were related, were beginning the strategy session for rescuing the SPD. 

“So, this is… beyond weird,” commented Kira even as Conner wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Beth is like a year and a half old and here she is… older than us and probably even her own parents.”

“You think this is the strangest thing ever, after everything we’ve seen and done?” asked Ethan skeptically, his mind automatically filling with moments that had perplexed the team when they’d been in uniform.

“I guess not…” she replied honestly, fighting down a sigh as she realized it was true.

“It’s too bad we don’t remember the instances where we were in the future or helped them in our time,” Ethan added his eyes lighting up a bit. “Then I bet a lot more of this would make more sense.”

“Or we’d be a lot more confused,” remarked Conner, making Ethan shrug beside his friend and former red ranger leader.

They continued to stand and stare as Kim leaned ever so slightly into Dr. O as they reviewed whatever Beth had pointed out on the table they were gathered around. Thoughts of Kim’s fainting spell at Beth’s revelation fresh in their minds made her simple action of closing the distance between her and her husband than much more telling. 

“How do you think Dr. O and Kim are holding up?” questioned Trent, who even though he hadn’t taken Kim and Dr. O up on their offer to let him stay with them, be his guardians after Anton died, he still felt… familial and protective of them.

“You mean the fact that their toddler daughter is some kind of special ranger leader who came back through time to ask for their help to save an entire ranger organization? Well, if Kim’s fainting spell didn’t clue you in I would get that it’s probably as well as you’d expect,” Conner pointed out, recalling the look on Dr. O’s face when he dropped to his knees to ease Kim up off the floor after Beth’s ‘surprise’.

The younger rangers nodded in understanding. They were all overwhelmed by the fact that the Nova Ranger had come to them for aid in the first place; Beth’s revelation in regards to her identity had been overwhelming for them. For Dr. O and Kim… the implications and emotions tied into that had to be off the charts. But they all had a job to do, and from the looks of it from where the four of them stood by the door, father, mother and daughter were doing what they all seemed to be good at – compartmentalizing their emotions and focusing on the task at hand. 

Finally Conner took a deep breath, gathering up his courage and pulled his arm from Kira’s shoulders, instead holding his hand out to her. She took it immediately and he took a step into the room, Kira a half-step behind him as he started towards the foursome around the table. Trent and Ethan unconsciously paused a moment before following the red and yellow rangers into the proverbial fray.

Around the table Kim, Tommy, Beth and Sam stared at the floor plans displayed within the war room’s computer screen table as they discussed the layout of the SPD headquarters. Kim and Tommy were doing their level best to focus on nothing more than the job, which was proving more challenging than they expected.

“Couldn’t you time travel back before the raid and warn them?” blurted Kim suddenly, recalling the fact that her… daughter had just come decades into the past to recruit them… couldn’t she have gone back to alert the SPD people?

“I considered that, but there are a few problems. I don’t know exactly when the attack occurred so I can’t go back to the exact moment to help. If I went back to just before I left to look for Sam I would have to tell them what was going to happen, and leaving that knowledge behind... well, there are rules to space/time travel and I’d be breaking the most important one. I have no idea how that would change things. I might not find Sam, the attack might change times or intensity… right now having your team here to help fix things in the now is the least damaging to the time stream,” Beth answered with a heavy heart.

Sighing Tommy ran his hand through his hair and noted both Kim and Beth watching him with some humor. They both recognized the expression of his frustration with the slight hand movement. Quickly he yanked it down and rested it on the table again. It was bad enough to have Kim scrutinize him with that kind of knowing look, but having his adult ranger daughter pin him with it was more than unnerving.

“So, do we have any allies inside the headquarters we can make contact with?” Tommy questioned, turning the conversation back to the rescue.

“We’ve tried making contact as soon as we arrived back in this time and narrowly missed being caught ourselves. All the active duty rangers - A and B squads, are unresponsive. More than likely they stripped them of their communicators and morphers.”

“Which begs the question, do any of them have the same capabilities as you?” Kim asked, her comment directed to Beth. 

“No. Mine’s the only one. Sam had one but it never worked right. Later they decided to leave it with the senior member of the A squad only…”

“So you’re the leader…” surmised Tommy, slightly surprised.

“Of the current, active team, yes,” she replied with a slight blush of embarrassment as she dropped her eyes.

She may have worked hard to earn her position but there had always been part of her that felt that she had to be even better than the best. People expected it once they knew of her parentage. She was ranger legacy. Plus there was still the fact that she recalled that day when she and her dad had fought over her decision to join SPD; she had spent the last 10 years trying to prove to him that she had chosen the right path. 

“But you aren’t a red ranger,” spoke up Conner as he, Kira, Ethan and Trent rejoined the strategy session.

“I was once. I got an upgrade. It happens, right?” said Beth, looking directly at her father, memories of stories about a white uniform and a lion handled sword filling her head.

“It does. But we need to focus on the situation in the SPD HQ right now,” Tommy admonished.

“Of course,” responded Beth, suitably chastised.

“What’s the facility like?” queried Kira, her hands landing on the table edge as she leaned across the surface, trying to understand the blueprints there.

Conner, Trent and Ethan joined her a second later, scanning the images across the table, which they now realized contained a view screen that changed from aerial satellites images to blueprints to heat and motion maps.

“Its seven stories, with a separate building for barracks. Since the barracks are in an undefendable space they are more than likely housing everyone inside the main SPD building,” explained Beth as she pointed to the areas as she noted them.

“What about the force of … Gruumm’s people? And how about the SPD’s personnel? Who’s in the building besides your ranger team that we can add to our team once we get inside?” asked Tommy.

“We don’t know exactly how many of Gruumm’s people are inside, but I think it might be a dozen or so… there weren’t a lot of them left after our last battle with him. As for our own people, there are about 100 recruits, who range from age 10-22, maybe twice that number of tech staff and other personnel. But they’re all going to be pretty much non combatants,” Sam began, wanting to clarify that they had civilians to protect and rescue as well.

Tommy clenched his hands tightly at the number of foes potentially in the building. If Sam was right, eight versus twelve odds weren’t bad at all…

“There are some others we can rely on for aid once we get to them,” Beth interjected quickly, recognizing her father’s worry by the look on his face and the fisting of his hands. “Commander Sky Tate is the man in charge. I would expect Gruumm’s allies have him under heavy security, but if we can reach him, his people and the ranger teams we will have more than enough help.”

“Who else will be with him besides the ranger teams?” asked Ethan.

“His second in command and wife, Sydney Drew-Tate. Also Bridge Carson, he’s head of advanced zord tech,” added Sam.

“And that’s helpful how?” Kira questioned, genuinely curious as to how these senior ‘paper pushers’ could help them.

“They all were rangers at one point. Commander Tate was a blue then a red ranger; Syd pink and Bridge was green,” stated Beth.

“And I guess we’ve worked and fought with them too?” Trent questioned, already knowing what the answer would probably be.

“Yup,” said Sam with a grin.

“Great. I would really like to remember things I supposedly did,” Conner said with a grimace.

“Sorry about that – SPD policy when interacting with the past… like I mentioned earlier; can’t screw up the time continuum and all that,” Beth said by way of an apology.

“Wonderful. So how are we supposed to rescue everyone if at least one group of them is more than likely under tight security?” questioned Kim aloud, the situation just looking more and more complicated.

“I’ve been thinking about that during our discussion and I believe I have a plan of attack…” Beth said, her hands starting to move across the map, changing the view before them with the swipe of her fingers.

“That sounds *so* like someone we know…” Ethan remarked in a stage whisper, making Trent, Kira and Conner burst out with a short spate of laughter before stifling it quickly when Dr. O gave them a very unsubtle glare.

The image on the screen changed back to a blueprint style, and she cleared away several floors of the building’s schematics until she could run her finger along a long, winding set of parallel lines that cut through the building. As she did so it turned yellow, marking a path that led from outside the building and into several larger rooms on the fifth and seventh floors.

“This is an auxiliary air induction unit that feeds air into the command center. If we can short circuit the fan blades,” Beth explained, pointing to three separate points along the pathway, “we can probably get in that way… unmorphed of course.” 

“You think we can get past any guards along the perimeter of the building and then use the air ducts to sneak inside?” questioned Tommy, incredulous.

“I do. I think it’s our best chance.”

There was a long pause as the Dino Thunder team considered the matter. Going into a potential battle zone unmorphed with no way to know what was waiting for them on the other end was risky. Any number of scenarios could await them once they were inside the cramped airway tunnel.

“There’s no better way? Heck, at this point I’d be down with taking the sewer,” groused Conner.

Beth turned her head and caught Sam’s eyes. He’d kept his smarts from the time he’d spent on the streets for the less than savory world ‘outside’ of SPD. His upbringing was so opposite to Beth’s that she sometimes forgot that it could offer them different insights.

“Sam?”

“Well…” he began, and critically appraised the map, using his finger to change the view to a larger schematic of the whole of the SPD grounds.

Everyone waited with baited breath as he considered their options. He knew that there were other ways into the headquarters but with eight of them, Beth’s entrance was the fastest and easiest to get to. Once they had rescued the people and beings within SPD they could bust their way out through more conventional exits. But they needed one point of entry rather than the two Beth was noting, and he marked the different route on the map with his finger, lighting the path in blue.

“Truthfully I can’t see any options that are better… if we try any kind of direct route we’ll be cut down or caught before we get 50 meters into the complex. As much as I hate to go in without already having our suits on before we get to the best end point,” Sam said, noting where the air duct dumped into a large storage space on the fourth floor that they could use as a staging area and location to power up before taking on their opposition, “I think we have to take the stealth approach via the air ducts.”

“Okay, so we can power up on the fourth floor and then go rescue your people,” indicated Trent grasping the plan quickly.

“We’ll have to split up from this location,” remarked Beth, her brow furrowing slightly. “The fifth floor would be the only place large enough for all the staff to be at with any kind of security. Sky and the command team, along with the rangers would be in detention on the seventh, where the security would be the tightest…”

“Okay then… we get inside, split up and rescue everyone. Sounds like a plan to me,” stated Ethan, even as he turned to the black ranger, the ‘de-facto’ leader of their group when it wasn’t Conner to see what he thought. “Dr. O?”

Tommy recognized Ethan’s look; he wanted to hear that he was okay with this plan. He turned to look to Kim first, who gave him the slightest of nods in his direction, indicating her approval with whatever he decided. Turning back to the others he gauged the rest of the team’s opinion, seeing thumbs up from Trent and a nod from Kira. Conner stayed silent, his eyes drifting away from the black ranger and reviewing the diagram before them on the screen. Then he looked back and gave his former teacher a determined look even as he seemed to stand just the slightest bit taller as he straightened up, the casual slouch gone as he slipped into his role as a red ranger.

“So, when are we leaving?” questioned Conner, cutting to the heart of the matter and indicating his agreement with the plan in one simple phrase.

“As soon as you’re ready,” suggested Beth and when no one offered any dissent, she nodded her head before taking a deep breath, reaching for her teleportation device on her wrist, knowing that very soon they’d be breaching the defenses of the SPD…


	4. Once More Into the Breach

Nova had touched some controls on her morpher and suddenly the eight person ranger rescue squad were standing just outside of the main building housing the SPD in the facility’s forest training area. Immediately they all took kneeling positions in the underbrush, observing the building to see if there was any security patrols on the outside of the building.

“Stay here until we make sure it’s safe,” stated Beth as she and Sam moved to first power down to their grey based military-style civilian wear before they broke from the forest area to head towards the primary building before them.

Hurriedly Beth and Sam ran for the wall, pressing themselves flat once they got there as the Dino Thunder team watched and waited for the all clear signal to join them. 

Making the decision to go into battle with a rudimentary battle plan wasn’t unknown to Tommy Oliver. Going into a fight with his girlfriend/fiancé/wife wasn’t unheard of either. But the idea that he was following his *daughter* into combat was… more than disconcerting.

“You holding up okay?” asked Conner as he glanced over at the black ranger as they both huddled in the dense brush, waiting for Beth or Sam to signal to them to cross over.

“Define okay,” murmured Tommy even as his head unconsciously swiveled away from Connor to check the direction Beth and Sam were focusing on.

“I get that this has been a lot to take in,” replied Conner in a hushed tone, recognizing that they needed to be quiet, but still too curious for his own good.

“Which? The fact that we have helped a future ranger team twice and don’t remember either incident, that we’re now in the future trying to rescue an entire ranger installation or that my 21 month old daughter is here and nearly 32 years old, wearing the uniform…”

Conner couldn’t help the smirk that crossed his face. Suddenly Ethan and Trent decided to butt into the conversation even as Kim and Kira, who were situated ten feet or so from them focused on awaiting their all clear from Nova and Omega.

“Like you should be surprised Beth ended up a ranger,” pointed out Trent, realizing just how much of her parents had to have been in her to take up their calling.

“Yeah, it’s not like it isn’t in her blood or anything,” joked Ethan.

Tommy grimaced. The idea of Beth being pulled into being a ranger frustrated him. He and Kim had served their time, more than a few times for him. Now their only child was here, living a dangerous life of a ranger…

“We weren’t supposed to have to give any more,” reminded Tommy, the tone of his voice almost sorrowful. “The Solar Rangers were on Earth to allow Kim and I to retire and have Beth, raising her in a safe environment. She shouldn’t have ended up here… like this…”

“Following her mom and dad’s footsteps? I doubt she even thought twice about it,” stated Conner.

“I’m curious why she came and got us. The Solar Rangers were around when she came to recruit us for this mission,” Ethan added inquisitively.

“Why wouldn’t she ask us? She knows us; can trust us. I mean if I was in her shoes I’d want my parents and my family to help me…” answered Conner seriously.

Tommy paused at that. He hadn’t even considered the choice that Beth had made was to trust that her family would be able to help her. She’d done exactly what she’d been taught – come to her family for aid.

He couldn’t fault her logic at all for it when considering it from that angle.

“Guys, less socializing, more focusing on the task,” hissed Kim from her vantage point with Kira a few feet away as she pointed to where Beth was signaling them to join her and Sam.

Cautiously the Dino Thunder team sped across the open space, Kim first, then Kira, followed by Trent, Conner, Ethan and Tommy. Once all eight rangers were pressed flat against the wall or crouched near the ground Beth gave Sam a go signal. He quickly made his way around the building to the air duct and used some kind of tool to pry open the vent cover. He waved back to Beth who then sent the rest of the team ahead of her.

“You can take out the fans, yes?” Beth checked once again as she looked at Sam seriously.

“Shouldn’t be an issue. I’ll teleport them from our path.”

“Good, then you get to go first.”

Sam nodded and took the lead, slipping into the air duct and sliding inside. Tommy and Kim shared a look and she followed, her still lithe gymnast body having no problem with the space. Ethan followed, and then Trent. Conner and Tommy looked at one another before glancing at Beth. She waved them forward, wanting to take the last spot, knowing that once inside they were going to need someone from the current SPD in the lead and the rear.

Once Beth slipped inside the vent she pulled the grate back over the space, hoping that a cursory look wouldn’t reveal their entry point. As soon as she was done she turned and followed the rest of her rescue team through the maze of vents. 

Slowly they made their way through the metal vents, which for some of the team was easier than others. Conner, Tommy and Trent all had their shoulders jam more than once on the metal of the vent.

“Could this be any more cramped,” asked Trent in a whisper that no one answered. 

The air ducts were big enough… barely, for them to get into the SPD HQ. But they were all unmorphed… their uniforms and helmets being too problematic to fit through the small space. Sam, in the lead led them upwards, the people at the bottom of the vent three times the team had to wait on him to transport the fan out of their way or the few times that they had to go up the several stories to get to the fourth floor. In those cases Sam had gotten Kim to boost him, and then each subsequent ranger had boosted the person before them, leaving Beth to be hoisted up by her father reaching down to catch her hand and pull her to the next level.

After what seemed ages Sam finally stopped, halting the line of people behind him as he found their end destination before him. He carefully evaluated the area they were headed into through a mesh screen before popping it loose.

Once Sam had landed on his feet he hurried to the door to check for potential enemy combatants. Finding none on the other side of the door he went back and quietly called up for the next person to come down. Slowly each member of the team filled the room; now the next step in their plan began.

“Alright, let’s ranger up and then we can go,” said Beth quietly.

At that, each member of the rescue team moved to give themselves space as they called on their powers to provide them the protection and enhanced abilities they needed to rescue everyone inside the building and defend them against any hostiles.

“Dino Thunder, power up… hah!” called Conner, Kira, Ethan and Trent.

“Dino Thunder, power up,” said Kim and Tommy.

“Nova Ranger, power on!

“Omega Ranger, power on!”

Six Dino Thunder rangers and two specialized SPD rangers now stood in the space, uniforms in place. Beth reviewed the group before giving out orders.

“This is where we split up. The containment area for the rangers and Sky’s staff will be on the seventh floor. I’ll take… Kim, Ethan and Trent with me,” said Beth as she nervously walked the perimeter of the room, making sure there was no one on the other side of the door. “That leaves Tommy, Kira and Conner with you Sam.”

“You okay with that?” Conner questioned Tommy, knowing that he always preferred to team with Kim, which none of them faulted really since they knew each other the best and were very motivated to protect one another’s backs.

“It’s fine…” stated the black ranger, realizing that since he wasn’t intimately familiar with the building or potential opposition he needed to take a back seat in the leadership department.

“Okay. Sam, you know where the largest space on the fifth floor is, that should be where they have the cadets and support staff. Watch out for Gruumm’s people and when you find them, get out, head to the point we arrived at past the tree line to rendezvous with us… but don’t go back into the building…” reminded Beth from behind her helmet.

“Be safe Beth,” Sam said as he moved to throw his arms around her in a brief, caring hug.

With that Sam moved to the door, Tommy, Kira and Conner right behind him. Opening the door a crack he confirmed it was clear before he slipped out, the three Dino Thunder rangers right behind him. The door swung closed quietly behind him and Beth slowly moved to it. 

“We’ll head directly to the containment area on the seventh floor. I don’t know if they’ll have the current squads and the senior staff in the same place, so we may need to check several areas on that floor. Are you ready?”

“We’re right behind you,” stated Trent.

She waited a minute or so before she grasped the handle in her hand, turning it slowly before peering out into the hallway. Luck seemed to be with them as the corridor was still clear, and she motioned Kim, Trent and Ethan to prepare to follow her.

-x-

Sam had unerringly maneuvered his four person team up the stairs and to the fifth floor where they now were presented with a pair of guards in front of their objective – the largest room on the floor and based on security, the obvious location of the cadets and support staff. As Sam prepared to turn the corner they were hiding behind to rush them, Tommy reached out an arm to restrain him, causing the Omega Ranger to turn his helmet towards him.

“Wait… I have this.”

At Tommy’s words, Sam looked past him towards Kira and Conner, who both stood back at the black ranger’s announcement. Tommy then used his powers, shimmering and then disappearing. Moments later first one guard, and then the second dropped to the floor before the door slid open, revealing a mass of people just on the other side. Then the black ranger reappeared as his team mates rushed to join him.

“Invisibility?” asked Sam, eyes wide behind his visor.

“Comes in handy sometimes,” relied Tommy with an audible grin to his voice.

All eyes in the cramped space for nearly 300 stared at the four rangers in the doorway, the Omega Ranger being the only one they immediately recognized. That being the case Sam took charge, raising his arms over his head to get everyone’s attention.

“Okay everyone, we’re making a run for it,” he announced as loud as he could considering he didn’t want to alert anyone that they were there. “Take the stairs down and we are heading South outside the building and meeting up in the forest outside the main HQ. Don’t stop for anyone or anything and if you need help, there will be a ranger somewhere nearby. Let’s go!”

With that Sam headed out first, dozens of the civilians and recruits following him.

“Kira, Conner, space out within the crowd in case they need help. I’ll take the rear position,” Tommy stated authoritatively, picking up the leader slack.

“Gotcha Dr. O,” responded Kira and Conner as they quickly melded into the crowd to protect them from whatever was still in their path to freedom.

-x- 

Swiftly taking the stairs up three flights was easy enough for Beth’s team, especially with their powers in place; Kim was even more suited for the climb as her feet barely touched the steps as her levitation powers kicked in, allowing her to move quickly up the staircase and earning her a few envious stares. At the top of the stairs Beth eased the door open to see what awaited them.

On the other side of the stairwell door Beth recognized Morgana and a few of her hired thugs, including Broodwing. However a fight with them wasn’t that worrisome… especially if the tables turned to their advantage once they got the A and B Squads free. However she knew that to get that backup she needed to release them. And that would mean a diversion…

“Trent, Ethan… I need you to turn left down this corridor, and then about 20 yards there should be a sealed door; that’s the containment unit for high level security threats. They should have Sky and his people in there. Use code A45O1… that will override any pass code,” Beth explained quietly as she closed the door to speak more freely. “If they aren’t in there, move on to the next door… they have to be here somewhere.”

“What about you and Kim?” asked Ethan.

“We’re going to keep Morgana and her crew busy while you get the Commander and the A and B Squads… Once you have them headed out, come back and help us finish off Gruumm’s people.”

“Okay, we can do that,” replied Trent, nodding before Beth cracked open the door.

With a silent gesture from Beth, Trent and Ethan ducked around the corner, headed for their objective even as Kim and Beth gave up on stealth and walked directly into the line of sight for Morgana and her people.

“Alright Morgana… your jailbreak of Emperor Gruumm is over… surrender now,” commanded Nova as she and the pink Dino Thunder ranger took up a fighting stance.

Morgana let out a child like laugh, her dark hair whipping around her as she waved her arms about.

“You are so mistaken… you are the ones that need to surrender…” she said with a smile that looked anything but friendly.

“You obviously don’t know who you are dealing with,” Kim snarked out… “We’re power rangers, or hadn’t you noticed?”

“I can tell a ranger by their tacky sense of style any day of the week. But your fancy powers won’t be enough to save you. Attack!” she yelled, prompting Broodwing and two other monsters to engage Kim and Beth.

Behind them Trent and Ethan could hear the sudden sounds of a fight. Knowing that their first responsibility was to complete the rescue they sped up until they found the door Beth had described. Ethan punched in the code and the door opened. They rushed inside, finding all manner of electronics, including small brightly lit boxes with moving images within them and in the back of the room… a large area that was caged in which held a baker’s dozen of people, all dressed in military like uniforms, similar to the ones Sam and Beth wore.

“Come on…. We’re here to rescue you!” announced Trent as he and Ethan blasted the lock and then threw open the barred door where Sky, Syd, Bridge and the A and B Squads were being held captive.

“Who… Dino Thunder Rangers?” said Sky, slightly stunned as he recognized the blue and white Dino Thunder rangers. 

“Well we certainly aren’t Luke and Han!” announced Ethan from behind his blue helmet. “We need to get outta here! We’re supposed to meet in the forest outside…”

Trent and Ethan moved aside, knowing that the people before them knew the building a whole lot better than them; they were just the muscle to get them out. As it was, Sky had them turn from where they’d come in from and cut through a storage area, slowly making sure the space was safe. Then he rushed to a locked cabinet and punched in a code. Seconds later the doors popped open and he scooped up what looked to be an armful of morphers…

“Grab your morpher and head out of the building!” announced Sky as the A and B Squads rushed to grab their confiscated morphers from their commander.

“We have to go back and help our team mate and Nova…” Trent said, his head swiveling back the way they’d come and the direction that sounds of a fight were still coming from, knowing that Beth and Kim were counting on them as well as the A and B Squads as reinforcements.

“I’ll come with you…” he said after directing Bridge and Syd to go out with the other rangers while he and the Dino Thunder rangers headed back to the fight.

Kim and Beth had taken their fight through the corridors and towards the command center, Beth thinking perhaps the location would be more beneficial to them even as they traded punches and kicks with the monsters under Morgana’s command. As they burst through the door they were brought up short by a woman with dark hair and eyes and a wicked expression standing there, gun drawn.

“What do we have here…” she asked with a grin that belied her words; she seemed to know exactly who was in front of her.

“Charlie…” breathed Beth, shock evident in her voice as she suddenly realized that Emperor Gruumm was never the focus of the attack… it had been the A-Squad in the containment area. 

“That’s A-Squad leader Red to you, Nova Ranger,” Charlie replied simply.

“You were stripped of that title when you became a traitor!” spat the Nova Ranger, still appalled by the fact that the former ranger who had turned on the SPD was here, free and looking to be the obvious ringleader of the takeover of SPD’s HQ.

“Doesn’t matter now… because I own this place and I can be commander of the new SPD! Now I suggest you surrender before I’m forced to shoot you and your colorful friend here.”

Before Beth and Kim could even consider making a break for it or trying to fight their way out of the situation they felt their arms being caught as two of Charlie’s A-Squad team members seized them from behind even as Morgana walked around them, Broodwing trailing after her.

As Charlie continued to smile at them, Ethan and Trent, followed by Sky had followed the sounds and sights of the fight that now led them to the doorway of the command center where they skidded to a halt at the scene before them. Sky’s eyes bulged as he recognized the woman pointing the weapon at the pink Dino Thunder ranger and Nova.

“What the!” called out Ethan, causing Kim and Beth’s heads to swivel in place at his outburst.

Ethan’s cry stirred something in Kim and she knew that she had to do something quick or the two would try to take on this Charlie and her allies. She had a responsibility to make sure that as many of her team as well as the hostages got to safety, and letting them and the other man, whom she guessed was one of the command staff come to their aid would surely get them caught as well. She struggled in the grasp of the person holding her, knowing that she had to convince them to leave; Beth and she would have to find a way out on their own.

“Guys, no! Run!” screamed Kim from behind her helmet, earning her a painful strike in the left shoulder by the heavy gun in the former green ranger’s hands, staggering her.

At her mother’s cry of pain Beth tried to break the grasp of her captor. Charlie casually aimed her weapon and discharged it, sending a bolt of fiery agony through Beth’s left leg, causing her to crumble to the ground. Broodwing and two more of Charlie’s people began firing at Ethan, Trent and Sky and the SPD commander immediately grabbed both rangers, dragging them towards the elevator bank.

“You heard the lady… we can’t help them if we get caught!” Sky said as he shoved his hand on a plate at the doorframe, making the elevator door immediately pop open.

With a shove he sent Trent and Ethan sprawling inside the elevator car even as he slammed his palm on the plate inside, causing the doors to close and the elevator began moving towards the first floor instantly, Sky’s handprint engaging the evacuation mode for the building.

Charlie stared viciously at the closed elevator door before cursing and sweeping her eyes over her accomplices, her hand with the gun stabbing towards the pink ranger and Nova ranger angrily.

“Take them back to the holding cells. I will be speaking to them shortly after I figure out just how much damage they’ve done,” she spat before turning towards Morgana with a deadly look.

-x-

The civilian ‘hostages’ being evacuated by Tommy, Sam, Kira and Conner had been funneled out the double doors from their makeshift prison and weaved their way down the stairwell. There were a few sounds of scuffles and at least one Terra Scream from Kira, indicating that they might have met some resistance. But before the escaping people could get bunched up or any of them could be caught, the flow of the staircase resumed. Tommy could only assume that Sam and Kira, who were in the lead, along with the overwhelming numbers of the recruits and non-combatant staff of SPD had cleared their path. 

They were halfway out of the building when Tommy felt a sudden pressure in his chest. In his soul he felt something pushing him to run. He didn’t hesitate to heed the instinct and yelled ahead of him for people to move faster. Then he was out with the last of the ‘hostages’ and they made a mad dash for the woods. So far there hadn’t been any kind of alarm… he could only hope Beth’s team had been able to get to their hostages as easily as his team had.

Before he could turn to Sam to ask him how much longer it might be before the others exited the building he saw maybe a dozen people racing from the building, but he didn’t see any of the rescue team. Then suddenly Trent and Ethan came bursting from the building with one other man right behind them just as sirens began to sound…

And Tommy immediately seized on the fact that Kim or Beth weren’t with them.

Sky quickly confirmed his people were safe as he arrived at the meeting point, and then he turned, realizing that the other Dino Thunder rangers were there along with the recruits and support staff and heaved a sigh of relief. But when his eyes fell on the Omega ranger and the three Dino Thunder rangers he could instantly feel the tension coming off Tommy as the black ranger strode towards him, Ethan and Trent.

“Where’s Kim and Beth?” asked Tommy, his voice registering the fear starting to spike through him.

“They were captured by the traitors…” explained Sky simply, putting as much matter of factness into his voice as he could.

Tommy froze at Sky’s announcement even as Syd and Bridge hurriedly moved to join Sam in coordinating the evacuation of everyone from the SPD HQ even as they feared they would be converged on by Morgana and Charlie’s forces at any moment. 

“How could you leave them behind?” growled Tommy, shaking off his inertia and straining not to launch himself at the SPD commander. 

“Kim ordered us to!” Ethan quickly interjected even as he, Conner, Trent and Kira converged on the black ranger, “She didn’t want any of us to get caught along with her and Beth.” 

“We have to go back in there…” Tommy started, his helmet moving to look at his former students to get their agreement even as a hand clamped down on his armored shoulder, forcing him to look at the older man before him, grey streaking his temples and the mantle of authority evident in his carriage.

“This isn’t the time,” Sky insisted before turning to the people that he was responsible for… a number much greater than two, “We have people we need to get out of here. Sam, you’re using the auxiliary command center?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good. Help Syd and Bridge get everyone away from here safely then join us there. The A and B Squads will come with me and the Dino Thunder rangers to the base where we’ll wait for you.”

At that Sam nodded, his helmet catching the dying rays of the sun as he helped Syd and Bridge direct the recruits and staff towards the city where they could go to their homes or otherwise hide out. Tommy turned his head to Sky, the anger obvious through his helmet as he reached up to pull Sky’s hand from his shoulder.

“We will get them back, but for now we need to retreat.”

Then Sky moved to pull a device from his pocket, one that looked a lot like the one Beth had used before and then the Dino Thunder team, Sky and the A and B Squads vanished just as Sam, Syd and Bridge directed their people away from the SPD HQ, and moved to follow their commander.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah… Beth and Kim are not in the best of situations, but with Sky, Syd, Bridge and the other SPD rangers freed, they have more manpower to rescue them. And yes, if you recognize Star Wars, Captain Power and MMPR:TM references/dialog, they are here intentionally.
> 
> One last note – the To Protect and Serve Power Rangers fic-a-thon sign-ups will officially kick off on 9/11! Please see ff.net community (To Protect and Serve), LJ (protect_a_thon), AO3 collections (protect_a_thon) or my website (trevizo.org/To_Protect_and_Serve.htm) to find out more about the thon and make plans to sign up! Also, if you know of other writers that might be interested, please send them to one of our sites to learn more about the thon… the more the merrier!
> 
> Ms. J.


	5. Wrong Side of the Door

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stunned by the appearance of the treacherous A-Squad and the loss of Beth and Kim behind enemy lines the team regroups with their new allies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! My continued appreciation for those of you reading, reviewing or leaving kudos – I greatly appreciate you all! So Kim and Beth are in the hands of the enemy and Tommy, Sam, the Dino Thunder team and the rescued members of the SPD need to come up with a new plan to rescue them. Now, let’s get to the story…

In a flash of light, similar to the last time they’d appeared in the future, the Dino Thunder team, minus Kim appeared in the command room of the auxiliary bunker; this time however they had been escorted there by Sky Tate, Commander of SDP, and accompanied by ten rangers, the A and B Squads. Once they arrived the team powered down and Tommy almost instantly started moving around anxiously, his arms were waving as he spoke, the actions punctuating his case.

“We need to get your people here suited up and go back and get them out of there,” swore Tommy, his eyes boring into Sky now that his armor was gone.

At the inferred threat on their commander the A and B Squads started to move to his aid before the Dino Thunder team moved to block them. Creating a gap between the SPD rangers and Tommy and Sky, Conner assessed the situation and moved quickly to his mentor’s side.

“Dr O., you need to calm down,” said Conner, knowing just how much this whole thing was scaring their former teacher; memories of Kim’s abduction by Zeltrax on their wedding day filling the red ranger’s mind.

Before Tommy could say anything else a door that they hadn’t been aware of opened and Syd, Bridge and Sam entered. Sky moved to greet them, his eyes going to Syd first with a look that said everything he couldn’t say while they were in their professional roles. 

“The staff and civilians?” he asked quickly.

“The older cadets are escorting the civilians and staff to safety. The younger cadets will stay with the older ones. Once this is over we can call them,” Syd said simply, her mouth a set line even as her eyes caught and held Sky’s.

“Well the sooner we go back the sooner you can get your headquarters back. All your rangers are here… we need to go, now!” insisted Tommy as he started inching closer towards Sky, the move registering as aggressive with the SPD rangers who Trent, Ethan and Kira were still doing their best to keep the greater number of rangers at bay.

“Dr. Oliver, Tommy…” began Sky, the look in his eyes one of understanding as he looked away from his own wife who stood at his side. “I understand that you want to rescue your wife…”

“And daughter,” pointed out Tommy and Sky nodded; he wasn’t sure if Beth had made her identity known to them, but it was obvious now that she had.

“But the fact is that we were able to evacuate all the personnel due to your actions. And thanks to your wife and daughter, Trent and Ethan freed the command staff and the most of two active ranger teams. We have the resources now to rescue Kimberly and Beth… we just need time and a plan.”

“Time? You want me to just wait around while you figure out what to do and leave them there?” Tommy said incredulously, and moved into Sky’s personal space, finger pointing dangerously in the other man’s face.

“Dr. O…” interjected Kira, her head turning towards their team mate, mentor and friend as she asked a vital question in the hoping to defuse the situation, “is Kim in danger right now? Is she in pain? When we were escaping… was she calling for your help?”

“What?” Tommy asked, his head whipping around at the blond at the question.

There was a brief pause before Kira looked to Conner. He caught her gaze and suddenly knew what Kira was trying to do.

“When Mesagog had her, before… you remember, you could feel, her, you told us so…” Conner reminded him, his voice trailing off as he waited for Tommy to focus on what they were asking from him.

Trent and Ethan watched the expression on Tommy’s face change as his mind slid into the past. The hours following Kim’s kidnapping at the wedding, leading up to Anton’s death were still difficult subjects for many of them. But the fundamental thing that had come out of it was Tommy and Kim had found some kind of… mystical, soul connection that let them feel one another in some instances. 

“Yeah, your brother’s guardian made you have to give up your secret identity so you could find her,” recalled Ethan.

“What happened out there today?” Bridge asked, confused as to what the Dino Thunder rangers were talking about, even though he’d been there for most of the discussion. How could Tommy know if Kim was hurt or in danger right now?

“I felt…” Tommy started, his mind having pushed aside the older memories as he concentrated on trying to describe the feeling he’d had in the stairwell.

“What?” asked Trent, pushing the black ranger to verbalize what he’d experienced.

“Like something… some *one* was pushing me to run,” he said finally, accepting the reality of what exactly he’d felt. 

That gut feeling, the one that had urged him to hurry and get the people out of SPD HQ before the alarms went off… it *had* been Kim… 

As the realization that she’d reached out to him like that, knowing that she couldn’t come to him and that if he’d known she and Beth were captured he would have turned around to rescue them, putting his charges in peril, he felt some of his anger dissipate. After all these years, she was still doing everything she could to cover his ass and take care of him…

“Kinda like how you knew Kim was in Mesagog’s fortress?” questioned Conner, remembering Dr. O describing it later to them.

Tommy nodded slightly, still overwhelmed by the realization that Kim had consciously used their connection.

“So that connection you have with Kim kicked in today,” hypothesized Ethan, “and it was her using it, maybe unconsciously, that directed you to get out of the SPD building.”

“I don’t think it was unconsciously,” Tommy said simply, his throat tightening as he fought to control his scattered emotions, “I think she knew I’d come back for her if…”

The room was silent once again as Tommy trailed off. If she’d called for help he would have abandoned his post, and if Kira or Conner had followed him to go back to get Kim and Beth… things could have ended up much worse. As the SPD rangers, Sky, Syd and Bridge watched Tommy’s reaction as well as those of the other Dino Thunder rangers, the tension in the room ratcheted down, understanding taking the place of apprehension and confusion.

To that end Sky Tate knew that he needed to logically engage the legendary power ranger and making him understand their opponent was one way to do that. Moving to Tommy he placed a hand lightly on the black ranger’s shoulder, the two men meeting eye to eye.

“Tommy, you need to focus on the facts; we know they’re alive, where they are who has them…” reminded Sky calmly, trying to redirect Tommy’s mind on the fact that Kim and Beth were safe and where they could be rescued.

“And who exactly is that?” asked Conner, who had missed that part, having been on the team that had liberated the cadets and staff rather than the command staff and rangers who knew their enemy.

“Trent and I saw their leader… some chick wearing a red and black uniform,” answered Ethan, recalling seeing the woman briefly when they’d run for it at Kim’s behest. 

Sky frowned and then looked past the Dino Thunder team and towards Syd and Bridge. They had all be shocked when Morgana had stormed SPD HQ. He’d been sure that she’d been captured years ago, but she must have found some way to escape. And when she’d directed Broodwing and her other henchmen to search the containment card storage cell he’d expected that she was hunting for Emperor Gruumm…

So when he’d turned the corner with Ethan and Trent he’d been shocked to see the leader of the A Squad – Charlie Martinez.

One look at her and all the memories of when she and the original A Squad had returned and attempted to destroy SPD with their… treachery bubbled to the surface for Sky. The woman was no longer focused on joining forces with the current evil now…it was looking more and more like overthrowing the planet, like Gruumm had wanted was no longer on her agenda… but making SPD pay was. And she not only had her A Squad team but Morgana’s forces aiding her as well.

“She was one of us,” Sky finally said quietly, almost too silent for anyone not standing right next to him to hear.

“What?” Kira blurted out and then bit her lip to reign in any further outburst as she waited for Sky to explain.

When Sky didn’t say anything more, just cast his eyes to the floor, Syd moved to his side once more to offer him her unwavering support.

“She was a ranger… a member of SPD. Actually she was the first woman chosen to wear the red leader mantle,” Syd said as she moved to gently lay a hand on her husband’s cheek as his head rose to look her in the face, his mouth tugging up slightly in a barely there smile of thanks before she pulled her hand away.

“But…” started Ethan, confused now; how was this possible…

“There was… an incident, back in 2025…” started Bridge, moving to fill in the knowledge gaps for the Dino Thunder team that the SPD people didn’t have. “She and her whole team disappeared. And when they finally returned…”

“They’d changed loyalties,” stated Trent, a feeling of déjà vu hitting him in the chest hard as he immediately put the pieces together.

“Charlie and her ranger team were defeated and incarcerated in a containment card in the SPD HQ holding area… the room that you found us in,” continued Bridge, finishing his account after Trent had simplified the return of the A Squad and their traitorous alignment with Gruumm.

“Wait… those lit up boxes along the walls… those are the containment cards?” Ethan asked, suddenly thinking how there were shapes inside the brightly illuminated boxes that had lined the walls. He was suddenly aghast at the idea that there could be people and things held inside them…

“Yes…” stated Sky directly, not mincing words even as he knew the others probably were stunned by the idea of holding prisoners in that manner, which would be completely foreign to them.

“But Beth thought this was about Emperor Gruumm?” Tommy questioned suddenly, finally reengaging in the conversation.

“No… It seems not. I would have expected Gruumm to come and gloat, but he never did. I guess the attack was to rescue Charlie and her people, not Gruumm, and to take over SPD,” Sky stated, his mind still fighting to grasp the idea that one of their own had done all this because of her hatred of how SPD had treated her... “Charlie must have had an agreement of some kind with Morgana…”

“And Morgana finally made good after… fifteen years?” questioned Syd beside him, shock evident on her face.

“Morgana was placed in a containment card when we defeated Gruumm… it obviously took her a while to find a way to use her magic to escape,” Bridge offered, the logic of the puzzle kicking his brain into high gear.

“So now this traitorous former ranger has my wife and daughter… and obviously has a vendetta against SPD…” remarked Tommy a dark edge now lining his voice.

“It may be worse than that,” pointed out Bridge in his utterly gut-wrenching way as he attempted to be helpful, bringing all eyes to him.

“How could it be worse?” asked Conner, not sure exactly what the man thought was worse than having two team mates captured by an evil former ranger.

“She lost her status as the first female red ranger when she went evil…” the former green ranger and head of SPD’s tech departments began to explain, trailing off as eyes widened and jaws dropped.

Bridge didn’t even have to finish his comment as the Dino Thunder team all recalled the conversation they’d had with Beth before the attack…

“Elizabeth Trini Oliver officially became the first female red ranger… and the fact is that Charlie always makes sure she knows her opponents, and she will have learned this from SPD’s computer banks…” stated Sky, joining the conversation again, his voice flat as he divulged the danger Beth and by extension Kim were in.

“And I bet she’s all kinds of crazy about the fact… damn…” swore Ethan, his eyes flying to Tommy, the black ranger’s face having gone pale at the information.

“We can’t leave them in there then,” stated Tommy, his voice now taking on a pleading tone, verging on desperation.

“We won’t. I just don’t think storming the building is the best plan,” explained Sky sympathetically. Beth was under his command and he wasn’t going to fail her.

“Then how do we get them out?” asked Kira, the worry in her tone causing Conner to gravitate to her side, catching her hand in his.

Turning to his wife Sky reached over to lightly cup her shoulder. She looked up at him with a questioning gaze even as he gave her a lopsided smile.

“You still have Jack’s number?”

-End Chapter 5-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well thanks again for joining me on this crossover roller coaster. Again I want to thank not only my long time readers but those of you new to me as well as the Always a Ranger universe (I have seen a recent spike in hits to the series so I guess you’re reading for the first time?).
> 
> As well, I want to note again that the Power Rangers “To Protect and Serve” fic-a-thon is now taking sign-ups for stories. Please see the ff.net community (To Protect and Serve), the AO3 collection (To Protect and Serve Power Rangers fic-a-thon), or the LiveJournal community protect-a-thon for rules/sign-ups. You can also e-mail the thon at protect_a_thon AT aol.
> 
> Thanks,  
> Ms. J.


	6. Torturous Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim and Beth are captured and while they wait for rescue things go from bad to worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note: a warning for torture (hence the title of the chapter). Also the names for the other A-Squad team members (other than Charlie) are mine, since the show didn’t decide to name them.

“Wait!” yelled Charlie as she realized her folly, causing two of her allies, Xakx, the blue ranger and Knox, the green ranger to pause in mid step, “Xakx, Knox, first we need to strip these two of their morphers. Then you can take them to the containment unit where the command staff *used* to be and lock ‘em in. I’ll deal with them soon enough.”

At her command, Charlie watched as Xakx and Knox removed the pink Dino Thunder morpher from Kim and Beth’s Nova Ranger morpher, causing both women to power down, leaving them in their civilian attire. She smirked as she looked at the two formerly ‘scary’ power rangers, who were now helpless at her feet. They were nothing but human…

Knox handed the morphers over to Charlie and then he and Xakx hauled Kim and Beth up from where they were kneeling on the floor and carried/dragged them down several halls until they arrived at the containment room. Beth instantly recognized the door as being the location she’d directed Ethan and Trent to as the area she believed that Commander Tate and the command staff would have been incarcerated in. Xakx handed Kim over to Knox as he swung the door open, exposing the interior of the divided room. Taking Kim back, Xakx and Knox hauled the two women to the cage at the back of the room, its door wide open. 

As they were shoved in Kim stumbled and then turned to watch Knox push in Beth as he slammed the door shut, wrapping some kind of metal cable through the cage wire, connecting it with a complicated looking lock. Beside her Beth tried to lunge for the door even as Xakx laughed, turning for the second door leading to the hallway as Knox let the lock fall heavily on the metal of the cage, a clang echoing through the room as they left, the outer door shutting behind them.

“Damn,” swore Beth as she realized that they’d put a lock on that she couldn’t override and without her morpher she couldn’t time shift them out of the cell.

“We’re stuck?” Kim questioned, pretty sure of the answer before she even spoke.

“Yeah… Well, at least we aren’t dead. There’s something to be said about that,” mused Beth as she turned from the cage door and tried to take a few steps towards Kim when her injured leg buckled under her and she started to fall to the floor.

Instantly Kim was there, team mate and motherly instincts all asserting themselves together as she attempted to catch Beth beneath the arms and the two of them fell together to the floor in a painful heap. Kim grimaced in pain even as she fought a grin at the thought that even in their predicament her daughter, the Nova Ranger, could attempt to joke in the face of danger.

“You know you get that questionable sense of humor from all the years of being exposed to your godparents,” Kim mused as she sat with her daughter, her left shoulder throbbing, the pain nearly debilitating as she now recognized the injury as a dislocated shoulder.

“That’s what you always said but dad told me that I inherited from you. He said your puns were historically bad when you were fighting monsters or putties or whatever…”

“Figures. He would sell me out to save Jason’s hide…” responded Kim with a wry smirk. 

Beth grinned at that before she tried to move slightly and hissed at the pain in her leg.

“Sit still. Let me look at that…” said Kim as she slowly pushed aside the burned material on Beth’s left calf with her right hand so she could see the damage. Under the scorched cloth Kim found an angry burn that more than likely was plasma induced. It was slightly bloody and Kim worried about when they’d have a chance to get medical attention, so they needed something in the interim.

Kim looked around as they sat there for something to use to bandage the wound before her eyes fell on a few space blankets that must have been thrown in with the command staff and rangers when they’d been held here. She scooted across the floor and grabbed one with her right hand and then made her way back to Beth. 

“Here, if you can rip a strip off this we can bandage this,” she said as passed the blanket to her daughter but couldn’t bite down the hiss of pain that hit her when she shifted her shoulders.

“You okay?” Beth asked, confused.

“Not really. They dislocated my shoulder when they hit it…” gritted out Kim as she worked to focus past the pain again.

“Mom!” cried Beth as she instantly dropped the blanket in her hands and reached forward towards Kim, even as she was waived off.

“What? I had to help you. And once we have your leg bandaged you can help me pop it back in.”

Beth sighed. It was just like her mother to focus on the task at hand rather than her own injury. Quickly she ripped the blanket and looped the material around her burn, tying it off. Once she was done she scooted closer to Kim and used her good leg to brace against Kim’s side as she moved to take hold of Kim’s left arm with both hands. Kim nodded in acknowledgement that she was prepared as Beth took a deep breath in preparation to causing her additional pain.

“One, two, three…” said Beth as she counted down before yanking on Kim’s arm, popping it back into its socket.

Kim muffled a scream that would attract attention that they could ill afford before she moved her shoulder more. However once it was back in place the pain did recede somewhat. At least she’d dislocated it once when she’d fallen in practice during her Pan Global days so she’d been through the process of resetting it before, making this time a little easier.

“Better?”

“Yeah. At least I’ll be able to move it if we get the chance to break out of here. Any ideas about that?” asked Kim as she very carefully shifted her shoulder to confirm that it was in place and was going to stay that way.

“Not from this room. It’s the containment unit and built so nothing can get out…” replied Beth with a sigh.

“Great… I guess we’re waiting for a chance outside of this room… or for a rescue.”

“So, you figure dad and the others got out okay?”

For a moment Kim didn’t reply, her mind clearly recalling the mental and emotional push to run that she’d ‘sent’ when she had yelled at Ethan and Trent. The connection she and Tommy had was underutilized, ignored for the most part, but Kim was certain that her message had been received. She knew it if for nothing else than the fact that Tommy wasn’t sitting in the cell with them. For if he’d known she and Beth had been cut off and captured she knew nothing short of the rest of the team holding him back or her own request to escape could have kept him away. Beth cleared her throat, bringing Kim’s attention back to her.

“You know your father…” Kim began, her mind having finally accepted the truth that her heart had already accepted; that this woman was her daughter, “he has taken on so many evils and won, gotten so many second chances that his *not* getting out would have surprised me.”

“Uncle Jason used to say luck was a ranger’s best friend,” Beth pointed out and Kim laughed briefly before she stifled it.

“Your uncle Jason is certifiable. No ranger in their right mind would ever believe in luck…”

“Says ‘Calamity Kim’?” quipped Beth with a grin.

“Don’t sass me. You may be older than me but I’m still your mother and I will put you over my knee,” replied Kim with a mock stern voice.

“Okay mom…”

The bonding moment between the two was abruptly broken as they heard sounds on the other side of their prison and they went silent, straining to hear and preparing for the worst. When no one opened the door and the sounds disappeared they felt comfortable enough to start talking again.

“So, I am guessing you didn’t expect those former rangers to be the ring leaders of the attack against the SPD?” questioned Kim, trying to put the pieces together in her mind.

“Charlie, the former A-Squad red ranger leader and her whole team had been put into containment cards. They shouldn’t have been able to get out… without help.”

“You think the attack on the SPD was instigated to break them out?” 

Beth turned to Kim and nodded. When she had first realized that some of Gruumm’s people had escaped and had taken over the SPD HQ, she had assumed they were looking for Gruumm or one of his generals… not Charlie and A-Squad. But the way that Morgana and Charlie had related to one another when they’d been captured; it seemed that Morgana’s loyalties had changed.

“Yeah. Not sure why it took Morgana fifteen years to do it, but yeah…”

Before Kim or Beth could offer any further thought on the timing or planning of the attack on the SPD HQ there was a sudden burst of noise and the main door swung open revealing the green and blue rangers who had escorted them to their cell earlier. They both were armed and headed straight towards them. Not willing to meet the enemy on their knees or asses both women stood, preparing to face whatever was coming.

“So, Charlie is ready to… ‘talk’,” announced Knox as he strode to the door, Xakx behind him leveling a large blaster… one that Kim knew very well was as heavy as it looked as she unconsciously rubbed her left shoulder, “who am I taking first?”

“Me,” said both Kim and Beth at the same time, causing them to look at one another.

“So eager… you won’t be once Charlie’s done with you. But I think perhaps Nova should come out first…” he replied as he nodded to his colleague while he manipulated the lock in some way, undoing the lock before he came in and grabbed Beth by her upper arm.

“No!” yelled Kim even as Knox hauled Beth towards the door as Xakx pointed the rifle at Kim forcing her to back up towards the concrete of the cell wall.

“We’ll be back for you soon enough pink Dino ranger,” said Knox with a smile that chilled Kim’s bones.

The cell door closed and Xakx slipped the lock back in place while Kim watched helplessly as they drug off her daughter through the main door to God only who knew where…

-x-

Beth found herself ‘escorted’ through the nearly empty building, taking the elevator down to the sixth floor. Exiting they walked down the corridors until Xakx pushed open a normally secure door for the research area. Passing a few rooms they finally entered one and nearly slammed Beth into an interrogation chair, strapping her in at the legs, wrists and across her forehead, effectively immobilizing her, even though she still struggled. She realized that she was in the science lab; one that Bridge was using for experimenting with memory enhancement for use in legal trials. 

“Bradley, you and Raine know what to do?” asked Charlie as she moved in suddenly from a dark corner of the lab, speaking to two people beside a wall of controls.

“Of course. This is very straight forward. Bridge was very meticulous in his notes,” stated Bradley, who based on his uniform had been the yellow ranger; Raine, the Asian woman coming towards them obviously pink…

Raine connected wires to Beth’s scalp, temples and ripped her uniform jacket open to place two more wire leads to her upper chest. 

“So, you know what this machine does?” asked Charlie with a grin, and when Beth said nothing she laughed. “Be stubborn all you like. This technology can be deceptively benign, unless you resist. Then… it can be… unpleasant. Now, how about we start finding out with how a nothing like you ended up taking *my* place as a red ranger…”

At a hand signal from Charlie, Bradley cranked a dial and pressed a series of buttons, and the flow of electricity flooded Beth’s body, and she let loose a short cry before she bit her lip, drawing blood even as she tried to focus on anything other than Charlie’s question. For she knew this was just the warm up…

Pink elephants, blue poodles, Chinese food… anything other than…

A second jolt jarred her attempts to block the answer to Charlie’s question, and suddenly memories flooded Beth’s brain unbidden along with an uncontrolled shout of pain. Thoughts of her parents, of pictures of them in uniform, both old ones from Angel Grove as well as Reefside...

“Legacy… ah, I see…” remarked Charlie as she slid her finger over a panel screen beside the chair that coalesced the memories in Beth’s head into clear images on the screen.

Kim and Tommy’s faces came clearer now, and Charlie stared at them… she recognized the woman in Beth’s memory; she was the other one who they had in the containment chamber. The pink Dino Thunder ranger. Nova had gone through time and gotten her own mother to help rescue the SPD…

“Your mom? Oh Nova… you brought your mommy to help you…” Charlie nearly sing-songed as she walked away from the view screen tapping into Beth’s memories and gripped the Nova Ranger’s chin tightly in her right hand.

“Go to hell…” spat Beth weakly, the energy she was expending to fight the machine was sapping her strength quickly.

“Perhaps… but before then I believe that I should have a chat with your mommy. Maybe she can provide me with some… amusement. I will look forward to wringing information out of her.”

Beth turned her head slightly in the chair and gritted her teeth. She had no idea that forcibly extracting memories could be so painful. As it was she didn’t think she could stand on her own let alone try to find an opening to escape. Finally Charlie motioned to Bradley to shut the machine down. Raine pulled the wire leads loose while Knox unlatched the restraints.

“My dad’s so gonna kick your ass,” mumbled Beth as she was peeled off the chair and Charlie laughed as she waved her people to take Nova back to the cell.

“Bring me back mommy… I’d like to chat with her…”

-x-

Kim started for Beth as soon as the door to the cell opened, what seemed hours later, but was immediately grabbed by the arm and dragged away even as Knox all but dropped Beth to the concrete floor, locking the cage door behind them. 

With Xakx leading her away, Kim couldn’t help her thoughts; she was concerned about her daughter… and herself. If the way Beth had looked when she was brought back was any gauge, whatever Charlie had planned for her wasn’t going to be a cake walk.

Tommy, she mused internally, a rescue any time would be great.

As Kim was escorted into the room she wondered just what was in store… no matter, she was the pink ranger; she would not bow to human or alien tyrants.

“Mrs. Oliver,” said Charlie faux-cordially as her men pulled Kim inside the room.

“That’s Hart-Oliver… if you’re gonna be all formal,” Kim replied with a saccharine sweet tone that was just this side of sarcastic even as Xakx gripped her arm tighter, making Kim give him a brief look that would have cowed lesser beings.

“But I’d rather we be on a first name basis… I’m Charlie and you are Kimberly, first pink ranger on Earth…”

“So you took ranger history… I’m supposed to be impressed?”

“No… you see I didn’t care much about history until I was named the first female red ranger…”

“And then you promptly went evil, so that sort of negates the whole thing, huh?”

Charlie tempered her instant anger at the dino thunder ranger’s words and then smirked as she stared at other woman. Kimberly Hart-Oliver certainly was living up to the reputation of a legend, no doubt about it. But she still had the upper hand.

“You think you and your perfect daughter are a match for me?”

“Not only do I think that, but you don’t have a clue what you’re up against…” responded Kim, knowing for a fact that the woman really didn’t know the lengths her team and her husband would go to in their efforts to rescue them.

“Well, let’s see, shall we?” Charlie remarked pointing to Knox and Xakx again and indicating they should put Kim in the chair.

As they moved to drag her there, Kim struggled in their grasp as best she could but not as much as she wanted; knowing that another injury to her left shoulder would be a hindrance if they found a way to escape. So it was no surprise when she felt her back land in the chair and was quickly strapped in. The woman wearing a mockery of pink armor came and connected electric leads on her before nodding at Charlie and stepping away.

“So, how about you show me what you think I’m facing, hmm?”

The spike of jarring pain as the machine accessed her thoughts brought sudden tears to Kim’s eyes even as she slammed them shut in an effort to fight the pull of the machine. Somehow her thoughts swerved from what Charlie was asking about and Kim found herself deep in the memories of when she’d fallen captive to Lord Zedd. She didn’t recall the draining machine that Tommy had rescued her from but the feeling of having her power and… soul pulled from her through the machine then had been triggered with this slightly different invasion.

“Not what I was looking for…” remarked Charlie with a wicked grin as a thought struck her. “Perhaps we need to soften you up to get what I want. Bradley, let’s see what Mrs. Hart-Oliver considers… pain.”

A new bolt of electricity struck her and Kim fought back the scream that wanted to break from her throat as every painful and hateful memory hit her in a successive wave. Injuries, falls, attacks by monsters, her power drain, her parent’s divorce, breaking things off with Tommy and then the failure of her relationship with Chris, Tommy’s encasement in amber, her kidnapping on her wedding day, the miscarriage… all of it at once was too much…

She fought to master the pain that somehow went past her mind and into her limbs but couldn’t, finally succumbing to it and passing out from it all.

-x-

“Kim…” Tommy quietly breathed even as his eyes closed and he pressed the heels of his hands to his forehead as the sudden sharp echo of pain hit him from miles away.

“Dr. O?” questioned Conner quickly, seeing the way their team mate and mentor had out of the blue called Kim’s name and shoved his hands to his head, as if in anguish. 

Breathing deeply, Tommy used every focusing technique he’d ever learned from his years of martial arts to allow him to shove the resonance of Kim’s suffering away. As he did so he acknowledged that by feeling the pain he was assured that Kim was still alive. But the fact that she felt it at all…

Tommy then moved across the room to stand with Sky, Syd, Bridge and Sam and looked Sky directly in the eyes, the pain still visible there to anyone who cared to look.

“They’re torturing her…” he scarcely rasped out, his voice raw, “we need that plan, and now.”

Behind him, Conner, Kira, Trent and Ethan all felt the floor go out from under their feet emotionally as they all recognized that Kim and Dr. O’s connection was channeling Kim’s pain to Dr. O… 

Sky nodded solemnly and clasped his hand around Tommy’s shoulder.

“And we have one…” announced Sky, looking briefly from Tommy to the Dino Thunder team, and then to Bridge, Syd and his rangers. “Just hang on…”


	7. Making Another Plan

Ever since Tommy had felt Kim’s distress at the hands of Charlie, the tension within the auxiliary command center had ramped up. Syd, Sky, Bridge and Sam had been speaking with their ranger teams in preparation for… something, but while the Dino Thunder team had all but insisted they be included, Sky had nearly pleaded with them to rest and focus on Tommy. He assured them that once they were ready to reveal the plan they’d bring them in. So reluctantly the Dino Thunder team had stayed together, worry for their team mate and Beth bonding them together.

What seemed much later than any of them realized there was an alarm that had Sky nearly leaping to his feet from where he’d been sitting with Syd and Bridge, discussing something. Sam and the other rangers as well as the Dino Thunder team reacted to Sky’s movement and warily stood limbs at the ready.

Sky headed to the main doorway, using some kind of sensor to the right of the door to identify what was out there before he turned and gave his wife a grin, moving to unbolt the doorway. He pulled the heavy metal door aside to reveal two people; ones that four of the people in the room knew and knew well.

“You rang?” announced the African American man with the long braids in the doorway shadowed by the Caucasian woman with the dark choppy haircut right behind him.

Jack and Z had returned.

Syd brushed past her husband and threw her arms around the former red SPD ranger with a wide grin.

“Oh my god, you’re back… you look great!” she exclaimed, happy to see their friend after so long.

“Syd… breathing…” Jack gasped before she abruptly released him, a look of apology crossing her face.

“Sorry.”

“Good to see you too.”

“Z!” exclaimed Syd, encircling the other woman as Jack shook hands with Bridge and Sky.

“Hey, Bridge, how are you?” she replied before Bridge had her in a brief hug.

“How are you still working with this guy?” asked Bridge, curious how the two former rangers had ended up working together for so long after leaving SPD.

“It may be his charity but it’s my company,” she said with a wink.

Sky gave Syd a knowing grin and moved to give Z a quick hug. Around them the others were becoming more animated, the group near the doorway providing more than a bit of curiosity and interest.

“This is all nice and high school reunion and all but our… family is in the hands of looney psycho chick, remember?” announced Conner as he strode into the muddle of SPD people.

“Conner?” said Jack, his eyes widening, recognizing the out of time Red Dino Thunder Ranger.

“Actually, it’s more than just him,” said Bridge as he looked behind him where the rest of the Dino Thunder team were situated, prompting Jack to gape for a second.

Jack then turned to Z momentarily before he swung his eyes to Sky. He had known when Syd had called asking for them to come here there was a problem. In all the years that he and Z had been gone from SPD no one from SPD had ever contacted them to try and recruit them back or otherwise re-engage them on a formal level.

Until now.

“What happened?” Jack questioned, a hard edge automatically appearing in his voice that had been gone for a decade.

“We got overrun,” Sky said with more than a little disappointment in his voice.

“What?” blurted Z, having not heard anything about it from any of their contacts in the city or elsewhere.

“Morgana and Broodwing along with a small surgical force accessed SPD HQ. Nova and I were the only ones that weren’t in the building when it happened and so Nova went back in time to get help,” stated Sam as he moved to join the conversation, his appearance prompting Z to smile softly at him as memories of days gone by filtered through her brain.

“So the Dino Thunder team, you and Nova…” began Z as she started to pick up the thread of the discussion.

“We rescued everyone in the SPD HQ, but in the process…” Kira explained, her tone a bit harder than normal.

“They have my wife and daughter,” interjected Tommy suddenly, silencing the room once more.

Z and Jack looked at one another with confused expressions… They knew Kimberly from their one interaction with the whole team. But they didn’t know anything about the Oliver’s child and knew that there was no way an SPD ranger would have brought a child back in time…

“Tommy’s referring to Nova,” explained Sky, knowing that neither Z or Jack had really kept up with SPD personnel changes. “She’s Beth Oliver… their daughter.”

Z gasped slightly, now understanding Tommy’s agonized expression, as well as the anxiousness of the whole Dino Thunder team.

“Who…” Jack began to ask before Syd cut him off.

“Charlie,” she announced with a frown that marred her pretty features.

“What?” Z and Jack said in near unison, the shock in their voices evident.

“I believe that Morgana had some kinda… deal with her,” began Sky, his eyes betraying the straight forward tone of his voice as his gaze read that he felt significant guilt in the escape of Morgana and Charlie’s current uprising. “When she and her monsters took over SPD they let Charlie and her rangers loose.”

“Shit… that woman had a few screws loose before containment; I can’t imagine what she’s like now…” replied Jack.

“Why are we here?” Z questioned, confused on the fact that after all this time Sky had contacted them.

“We need your help,” said Sky sincerely.

“How can we help? We don’t have powers anymore…” Jack stated his voice tight, pained at the situation that he had no powers available to him to aid them with.

Tommy’s eyes flew from the two new people to Sky. The man had said he had a plan… 

Before anyone realized he’d gotten up from his place across the command center Tommy was on Sky, his hands gripping the older man’s uniform jacket as he stared hard into his eyes, shaking the commander of SPD once, hard to get his attention and to let the other man know his intent. He was *not* letting anything keep him from Kim and Beth...

“We have fifteen rangers plus your three man command staff,” Tommy remarked angrily, “why were we waiting on two unpowered people to rescue Kim and Beth?”

There was a brief tension filled pause before Sky looked Tommy in the eyes and said in a monotone voice even as he laid his hands over Tommy’s clenched fists, holding them in place before he could peel them away and strike him, “because we can’t go in there…”

The eyes of the Dino Thunder team widened even as Tommy’s face turned angrier. Conner took a menacing step forward, his hands balling unconsciously into fists even as Ethan, Trent and even Kira had moved to join him and if necessary to take this discussion to its possible physical conclusion. At the aggressive posture of the Dino Thunder team Sam and the other rangers started to move as well, planning on restraining the four Dino Thunder rangers before they could get even closer to their commander.

“What the hell? Did you not hear Dr. O say Kim was being tortured?” Conner yelled even as Kira reached out to lay a supporting yet calming hand on his arm even if she was more than ready to back up her fellow rangers if this had to become a fist fight.

“Hey, let’s all cool down here,” Bridge said, raising his hands as he intentionally inserted himself between his commander and Tommy and the Dino Thunder team; Syd moved to Sky’s side, her eyes staring at Tommy, hoping he’d see reason and let her husband explain.

“You had better have a damn good reason for this,” said Ethan, feeling like he wanted to just follow Dr. O and Conner’s lead and stop talking...

“We saw what happened with a ranger attack, even a covert one,” Sky said carefully. “If we tried the same thing again or stormed the building…”

The long pause and the way Sky’s eyes slid to Syd brought Tommy up short, his fingers going numb and falling away from Sky’s jacket. Suddenly he understood what Sky wasn’t saying.

“You’re afraid this Charlie will kill them…” Tommy answered, his tone filled with sudden anguish.

Kira, Ethan, Conner and Trent all turned and stared at Dr. O in horror. They’d known Charlie had tortured Kim based on Dr. O’s connection with her and had felt it. But the idea that an attack on the SPD HQ would back Charlie into a corner, prompting her to kill her hostages… it hadn’t even crossed their minds.

“I am. She’s… unhinged is a polite word. And I think if she sees a ranger force attack…” Sky stated simply, letting his words trail off.

“She might take it out on them,” answered Conner, still stunned by the sudden revelation.

Sky nodded. By then Tommy had backed up, his team instantly flanking him, providing him support as well as creating a unified team front. So if they couldn’t attack straight forward and knowing that the way in through the air shafts was more than likely compromised since their last attack, their avenues for rescuing Kim and Beth were quickly disappearing…

“So how exactly do I fit into this?” asked Jack, bringing everyone’s attention back to him as he now verbally questioned the reason for his summons.

“I’m guessing Charlie remembers you and Z. She’ll have reviewed all of SPD’s files and will know you quit just after they were defeated,” remarked Sly, his eyes catching the former red ranger.

“How exactly does that help?” asked Z, confused and more than a little overwhelmed at the idea that she and Jack were somehow vital to this rescue even though they had no powers anymore.

“I need you both to go in there and join up.”

“What?” exclaimed not only Jack and Z but the members of the Dino Thunder team as well as Syd, Bridge and Sam.

“Have you lost your mind?” questioned Jack after a moment.

“No. Look, she’ll know you quit, and that Z did after a few months too. If you play it up that you left because you wanted to get back to your business…”

“How is his charity work supposed to convince Charlie he’s interested in working with her?” asked Sam.

“When he tells her it’s a front for selling advanced weapons and tech she will.”

“But…” started Z, flabbergasted.

There was a silence that fell over the room as this new piece of Sky’s rescue plan was revealed. The idea that Jack was somehow dirty playing into the plan…

“You want to make her think he was with SPD for the contacts and the tech,” said Ethan suddenly, grinning at Sky’s audacious plan.

“And if Charlie believes that, and Jack goes in telling her that he wants to help her strip the SPD for cash…” remarked Syd surprised, catching up quickly even though Sky had explained some of the overall idea to her.

“Then we get the inside scoop on what’s going on,” said Jack, realizing now why Sky had reached out to him.

“Okay, that sounds great and all but doesn’t that just give Charlie two more hostages?” asked Conner, genuinely concerned.

“I know what you’re thinking. But no. If she bites, we get the information on where Kim and Beth are and then we go to the second phase of the plan,” stated Sky with a slight grin.

“Which is?” questioned Kira.

“Charlie will have stripped Beth and Kim of their morphers. If Beth gets hers back she can teleport them both out through the time portal.”

The members of the Dino Thunder team realized that if Beth had her morpher she would have already escaped with Kim. So if she didn’t have it and getting it back to her would let the two of them escape without any kind of attack, it would be the easiest and safest for everyone.

“How are you going to get the morpgers? They’ve got to be locked up…” asked Ethan.

“I can deal with that,” noted Jack with a smile, knowing he could phase through whatever container Charlie had them in. 

“Alright, but even if Jack has them, getting their morphers to Kim and Beth is going to be dicey,” remarked Trent, recalling the forces Kim and Beth had engaged to get to the secure lock down area that Charlie had been holding.

“Not for everyone…” Sky said, turning to look at Tommy and prompting everyone else to do so as well.

“Your invisibility…” murmured Kira, realizing that technically Dr. O could walk in and out of SPD HQ without anyone knowing.

“If Dr. O goes in there, why couldn’t he just help Kim and Beth escape?” questioned Conner, thinking that now they were putting two ‘civilians’ and Dr. O in jeopardy as part of this new and revised rescue.

“My invisibility won’t cover more than just me,” explained Tommy even as his leader’s mind began to see where Sky was going with his plan. “While Kim has ‘phased’ more than one person I can’t do the same.”

“So Jack and Z go in under cover, locate Kim and Beth along with their morphers. They contact us and then Tommy goes in, gets the morphers from Jack and takes them to Kim and Beth so they can escape…” said Bridge with widening eyes, “but what about Charlie, Morgana, Broodwing and their allies?” 

“As soon as Jack has the intel and the morphers Tommy will go in. Once that hand off is made, Jack and Z will leave, initiating the fire protocols and forcing a building evac. As Charlie’s people vacate the building, the ranger teams will be waiting for them. Sam, I’ll be looking to you to lead A-Squad in Beth’s absence and Michael will lead B-Squad in a straight on attack, supported by the Dino Thunder team. Once we have all of Charlie’s people contained then we can restore order to the SPD.”

“That’s a pretty audacious plan,” stated Jack with some admiration.

“Well it all hinges on you. You think you can act like a scoundrel?” questioned Sky.

“No doubt about it.”

“Well then, I think it’s time to start a rescue,” replied Sky as he turned his head to look at Tommy who gave the other man a look that showed his genuine relief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, a devious new plan is underway! As well, we’re getting near the end of this series – just a few more chapters to our tale. Also I just want to make a quick reminder about some other writing stuff:
> 
> 1\. Please remember that the Power Rangers “To Protect and Serve” fic-a-thon is still going on. Please see the website or the community/collections for more info about participating.  
> 2\. The Impact of Power series has begun! There is a community/collection for it so please see it for updates, as I will not be the only author posting and each individual vignette will have its own post.  
> 3\. Undercover Lives is posted under ScarletDeva’s profile. If you liked the excerpt I included under my profile you should see the whole story!
> 
> And as always, thanks for reading!  
> Ms. J.


	8. The Best Offense...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Z take on the acting job of their lives.

With as much swagger as Jack could muster, he walked to the front door of the SPD HQ, memories of his first and last time there warring in his head as he prepared to lay his hand on the handle. Behind him Z stood, eyes scanning the area, waiting to see if they were being watched.

Other than by their allies.

Bridge had tapped into the security system in the training area outside SPD. While Charlie’s resident techno-psycho Bradley seemed to have disabled the remote access to the feeds inside the building Bridge could still piggyback the signal to the outer cameras so they could make sure Jack and Z got inside in one piece. But once in there…

Before Jack’s hand could even fall on the metal handle the door flew open, revealing a barrel of blaster rifle. Behind it was the former pink ranger, Raine. The sight of the weapon pointed at him caused his hands to reflexively rise even as he could tell Z had startled at the sudden appearance of the former ranger, taking a shuffling step backwards.

“Hey, we come in peace!” Jack announced, nodding to the rifle.

“What are you doing here?” challenged the one time pink ranger.

“We heard there was a change in regime around here and thought maybe we could help each other out…” he said with a wide, disarming smile.

The woman before him paused, unsure of her next move. She was there to protect them from rangers and threats, but the man before her and his companion didn’t look or act like threats…

“How about you let me speak to your boss…” 

With that last trademark charm Raine lowered her rifle slightly and stepped aside, allowing Jack to walk to her side where he waited until the woman watched Z follow Jack inside before closing and locking the door behind them. Then Raine moved to usher them both forward, using the barrel of her rifle to guide them along as she walked with them to the elevators.

Calling one to the main floor was simple and the three rode it upwards. When it stopped on the seventh floor Raine indicated they should get out and Jack and Z complied readily. Both of the former rangers recognized the command floor and followed the renegade ranger before them as she led them to the command center. As the door to the room opened, all eyes within the room turned at the sound.

 

Charlie had turned from where she was speaking with Morgana in hushed tones when the door opened and watched as Raine walked in, escorting two people. Her eyebrow quirked up as she assessed the two people before her; the way the man walked spoke of confidence and familiarity with his surroundings. Her mind quickly tried to process who the man, and more than likely the woman behind him were in relation to the SPD.

“Raine, what do you have there?” she asked, her voice dropping ever so slightly as she took on a wary edge.

“They wanted to talk with you… seemed to know a lot about… us, here…” the other woman stated, even as she worried she’d made a mistake.

Jack gave a cocky smile as he brushed his dreadlocks over his shoulders and down his back. This was his moment. He remembered Charlie – being attacked and locked up by her had left an impression. But he wasn’t sure he’d made an impression on her… 

“Charlie, it’s been a long time. I doubt you remember me…”

The turncoat A-Squad Red Ranger stared at the man before her, some of her last memories before Morgana’s rescue bubbling up at the sound of his voice as he stood there. The reason for his comfort level in SPD finally kicked in, and her eyes narrowed, her body language instantly becoming aggressive as she knew him for what he was.

“I remember you… Red Ranger…” spat Charlie, her hand poised to direct her people to attack before Jack raised his hands in the air in a placating gesture.

“Whoa! Hold up there… we’re not with SPD anymore. We’re actually here looking cut a deal,” remarked Jack, his voice raising a bit as he showed his empty palms at shoulder height, the posture showing her he wasn’t there to threaten her.

Charlie’s hand froze and her head cocked a bit. The man before her had been a red ranger, and was no longer… she wondered what had prompted him to give it up.

“What do you mean you aren’t with SPD?”

“Just what I said… we had a… falling out less than a week after you made your way back. It’s all in the records…” Jack noted, nodding his head to the computer banks.

Once Charlie had been released she’d accessed the database to know whom she was dealing with, like Commander Sky, Nova and the current rosters of rangers and command staff. But she had glossed over former staff and rangers, considering doing deep research on them a waste of time and resources. Now however these two were here in her building looking to… make a deal?

Slowly she turned her eyes towards Bradley, who instantly started a search of the system. Once he had their files he nodded, and Charlie moved to join him, Morganna following in her wake. Charlie quickly scanned the material, pausing when she saw that a Jack Landors, former Red Ranger had resigned less than a day after her team was incarcerated. The woman with him, Elizabeth Delgato, former Yellow Ranger had left a few months after him. Beyond that there was no other history for them, and taking into account that their records seemed to indicate they’d been ‘drafted’ into service, she was now more curious than wary as to his return.

“So, you left… why?” she questioned, leading him into divulging his true feelings.

“They promoted Sky Tate… and I found that I wasn’t much of a joiner…” 

“Tate was an egotist and a letch,” threw in Z, frowning as she said it, ad-libbing from their prepared ‘script’. “Always was hitting on Sydney and me… when I wouldn’t put up with it any more I left too.”

At that Charlie smirked a bit. She liked the idea that the great Commander Sky Tate was tainted. And any woman that would put the man in his place she immediately liked. In fact neither of these two seemed to be the career rangers that she had learned to hate.

“You said you wanted to make a deal? What do you want?” she questioned and both Z and Jack could see the immediate change in her posture and her voice.

Jack smiled wide, his natural charm shining out. Charlie was buying their story and now he just needed to complete the ‘deal’.

“When I was here before, I had the chance to get my hands on certain… items. I can’t begin to tell you their value on the open market. And now with things having changed here, I thought perhaps you might be interested in some financial restitution from SPD in the form of you and me doing some business; you give me the SPD’s tech and I cut you in on the profits.”

“So, I supply you with what… the morpher tech, blasters, armor, equipment?”

“Whatever you want to pass my way. I can find buyers for everything. As long as you don’t have any qualms about what they do with it after they buy it…”

Charlie laughed, the suddenness of the sound startling her allies. She smiled at Jack finally, her eyes showing the evil intent behind her thoughts. “So if I agree to this, what’s my take?”

“A cut of my profit. I figure since you have the tech but I have the connections we can do a say… 60-40 split,” Jack offered, his smile growing wider even as he was repelled by her obvious happiness at the idea that SPD’s weapons could be used for evil.

“That’s rather… generous.”

“I like to have my partners feel I’m being fair.”

“He’s a damn good boss,” tossed in Z from beside Jack.

“And if I agree…”

“Then I get a guided tour to see what you have and I find out what kinda buyers I have for the tech. When I have a sale lined up, I come back and get the tech and come back with the cash.”

Charlie looked at Jack, noting the relaxed manner of the man. Nothing about his behavior seemed out of place. His files said he ran a charity though…

“How is it that you’re running black market tech sales but you’re supposed to be a do-gooder?”

“Man’s gotta have a cover,” he replied quickly.

Charlie looked around her. Her people had been imprisoned, along with her. And while they had taken revenge on SPD, reparations of the monetary kind weren’t going to be forthcoming. But Jack and his partner were here, offering them some significant cash that once they burned this place to the ground they could all use to start new. And she liked the idea of selling off SPD’s secrets to fund their future.

“We have a deal then,” said Charlie suddenly, walking to Jack, her hand outstretched.

Jack quickly took it, shaking it even as he masked his revulsion at the woman’s touch.

“Well, how about you get your people to give us that tour, see what you have so I can start getting us some cash?” Jack asked, rubbing his hands together in a gesture of glee at the prospect.

Charlie nodded, pointing to Raine and Bradley. The former pink and yellow rangers jumped forward at her summons.  
“You two take them around, tell them what we’ve got…”

Within minutes Bradley and Raine were walking Z and Jack throughout the building, Z having taken out a portable tablet and made a show of taking notes as they “assessed” the value of the tech they were seeing, talking about potential buyers and how fast they thought bids would come in on certain tech. They made their way through the first five floors and were working their way through the sixth when Jack and Z noted the containment room’s door, the location that Sky had stated the command staff had been held and he suspected might be the holding location of Kimberly and Beth.

“What’s here?” asked Z as they got closer to the locked, secure room.

“The containment card room,” remarked Raine, not suspecting the two remembered what the room was for.

“That tech might be of value. How many do you have in there?”

“Not sure… Bradley?” asked Raine, confused.

“I don’t know either.”

“How about we just go in and count?” questioned Z, her tone innocent to her true motives.

“I can’t open this…” remarked Bradley with a bit of a stammer to his voice, even as his eyes slid from the door to Jack and Z who stood there, expressions questioning and open.

“Why not?” asked Jack. 

“I…”

“Come on. Your boss trusts us. We’re gonna make you guys wealthy… but I can’t do that without seeing the merchandise.”

Bradley looked at Raine, and after seeing the confused look on her own face he mentally vacillated for a few more minutes before he typed in a code and the door slid open. Jack and Z stepped inside, eyes perusing the containment cards lining the walls, and pointedly not looking at the end of the room.

Kim and Beth both were up and pressed against the cage bars the instant the door opened. They had both been waiting for a chance to escape and when they saw the former yellow and pink rangers walk in with two other people they both reacted. Kim was surprised and wary, while Beth turned her back to the newcomers quickly to school her features before she turned around once more. She couldn’t let anyone know she recognized the former red and yellow SPD rangers.

Jack and Z glanced around the room, both making a show of being interested in the technology around them. Finally Jack allowed himself to focus on their real reason for being there – the rangers they were there to rescue.

“Prisoners?” he finally questioned, pointing down the room at a safe distance to keep the others from recognizing their true interest.

“They’re some leftover problems…” remarked Raine with more than a hint of disgust.

“If you need them gone, I might have a buyer interested in their kind of software, if you know what I mean,” Jack remarked, winking at the Asian woman before letting his eyes slide away to Z.

“Charlie wants them here for now,” Raine said with a slight growl to her voice and Jack raised his hands in surrender once more.

“Not a problem. Just offerin’. So, what else you got?”

At that Jack turned with Raine at his shoulder, Bradley already heading out the door even as Z hung back briefly, signaling to the two ranger women with a brief thumbs up before she quickly turned to catch up before Bradley slammed the door shut.

-x-

The moment the door closed on the containment room Beth let out a huge breath before sliding along the bars of the cage to the floor.

“What’s going on? You know those two?” questioned Kimberly.

“They’re former SPD, and not the kind like Charlie. Jack and Syd are like the best of buddies… I would bet anything that Commander Sky called them in to find us.”

“Which means what? Unless they can walk us out of here we’re kind of stuck,” reminded Kim.

“Not necessarily. If they can find my morpher and get it back to me, I can get us out of here,” stated Beth with a grin that reminded Kim of the one she saw in the mirror some days.

Kim stared and then remembered that he daughter’s morpher had more powers than just changing into uniform. It had been what had brought them here to the future as well as from the auxiliary bunker to the SPD HQ. And with it…

“You can use the time travel portal to get us out of here!”

Beth nodded, smiling at her mom. But the fact that Jack and Z were here, and obviously posing as something they weren’t was a big risk. Still…

“I guess the cavalry’s here… we just have to be ready when our time comes.”

Kim nodded. She was more than ready to get out of the clutches of Charlie and her goons. So she gave a small sigh and resigned herself to wait until the two came back and got them out of here.


	9. Covert Affairs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: A rescue is on... but will it be with a bang or without a hitch?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: Thank you pink_green_white_4ever for the continued support and proofing.
> 
> Hi all! The stage is set, now it’s all about execution… Now, let’s get to the story…

Two long days later an alarm the SPD auxiliary command HQ went off, sending everyone immediately into high gear. Bridge rushed to the command console, his fingers flying across the keyboard on the screen as he uncoded the message that had been routed into the command center and had triggered the alarm. By his side Sky looked down at the message, reading it quickly once Bridge finished his task. 

The coded message Jack had sent was still coded even after Bridge had unscrambled the lines of text. It was a set of coordinates along with a time. Sky knew instantly that information spelled out exactly where Kim and Beth’s morphers were kept and where the two women were being held within the building. The time was Jack’s window for the operation to take place, which was a little less than an hour away.

The second Sky was done he took a deep, steadying breath, his head turning to lock gazes with the black Dino Thunder ranger.

“You’re up,” said Sky said to Tommy.

As soon as the words left Sky’s mouth Tommy was moving, prompting the other members of the Dino Thunder team to match their mentor. Conner rushed, almost as if he’d used his powers to pass Dr. O, making the older man slow and then stop. Tommy regarded the red Dino Thunder ranger with a scowl. He cared deeply for the ‘kids’… ‘his’ team, but Conner was in his way.

“You’re sure this is a good idea?” asked Conner, still more than a bit concerned about Dr. O going in alone as he stared down his former teacher, the others quickly catching up and creating a wall of worried rangers before Tommy.

“Conner, I was a ranger when you were in grade school. I think I can handle it,” assured Tommy as he hurriedly moved towards the door even as his team followed him. 

“We know that Dr. O, but we want you to keep a clear head. Kim can make you crazy and you know it,” remarked Ethan, memories of when the two had fought when Xondar had attacked over two years (their time) prior and how the resulting affects on the team as a whole had been… devastating echoing in his mind.

“And you need to be sure you are careful about what you’re ‘hearing’ from Kim,” added Kira with a forlorn expression. “If Charlie decides to do anything to her before you get there…”

Leaving the rest unspoken Tommy pursed his lips but nodded. While he knew he could use the connection he had with Kim to locate her, he knew if he opened it wide and found her in pain it could debilitate him. He would have to rely on Jack’s intel once he was inside, even though he desperately wanted to confirm Kim was alright. 

“I know.”

“Just remember, the cavalry’s right behind you. We’ll see you, Kim and Beth soon. Just be careful,” Trent stated even as Tommy gave them all a slight smile before they parted, allowing Tommy to move past them to stand before Sky, Syd, Bridge and Sam.

Looking down at the computer console Tommy did his best to memorize the two locations until Syd reached out with a small device the size of a cell phone.

“The coordinates are entered and you’ll get a vibration when you reach them.”

Relief rushed through Tommy as he realized he wasn’t going to have to worry about making a mistake. The two coordinates on the device also gave him the floor and approximate location of the coordinates, so he could quickly cut through the building. With a small, almost cocky grin his head raised as he looked at the four SPD rangers before him.

“So, who’s giving me a lift?”

-x-

Jack and Z had taken two days to locate everything they needed for the plan to go off without a problem: the times when people took ‘breaks’, where Kim and Beth were being held, as well as the location of their morphers. Most of all they had spent the time making nice with Charlie and her cohorts, reinforcing the faux relationship to keep their enemies from realizing their true intent.

Jack had quickly ingratiated himself with Charlie and he and Z were able to ensconce themselves in Charlie’s inner circle without significant effort. The fact that the woman believed anyone who had worked for SPD and seen its ‘true nature’ would want to turn traitor against the SPD had made it all the easier to fool her.

He and Z had stayed at the base, taking advantage of the emergency quarters there and learned everything they could about the bond between Morgana and Gruum’s former allies and Charlie’s group. They found quickly that the relationship was tenuous at best. Obviously the primary alliance was between Morgana and Charlie, and Broodwing and the other former Gruum generals had a different opinion of the former Red Ranger…

Z and Jack realized instantly that it was something they could use to their benefit.

The urgency to get their message back to Sky was palpable, and when Kim and Beth had been dragged back to answer more of Charlie’s ‘questions’ they knew they had no more time. Jack had Z taking point… or actually several points as she split herself and situated herself at each intersection near an auxiliary communications terminal in the first level of the SPD HQ. While Z guarded the corridors for signs of any patrol, Jack sent the message to start the rescue and take down of Charlie and her people. As soon as he was done he did his best to cover his tracks and rushed out to Z, who called back her other selves.

The message was sent, now they needed the morphers.

Again, under the guise of his black market salesman role, Jack and Z made their way to the secured area of the command level. As they passed the door where Kim and Beth were locked away they both sped up. Z left a duplicate behind at the corridor intersection as Jack moved to phase through the door to the locked storage area. Once inside he headed directly to the wall safe that he’d learned ‘in passing’ that Charlie had locked up the pink Dino Thunder and Nova morphers.

Hoping that he wasn’t making a big mistake and that he’d learned everything he needed to about the safe, like that there wasn’t going to be an alarm go off when he tried this, Jack phased his hand through the small metal door. Inside the open space within the safe his fingertips solidified and he poked about with them until he felt the cool metal of Kim’s gauntlet, reverted back from her morpher once it had been separated from her. Without thinking for a second he wrapped his fingers around it and pulled it through the solid door. Seconds later he was staring down at the silver bracelet now in his hand. 

Quickly he slipped it in his pocket and repeated the process, this time pulling out Nova’s morpher.

Turning, Jack headed for the doorway and once again slid his phased self through the solid object, coming out on the other side to see Z’s worried face. He gave her a thumbs up signal and she visibly relaxed. Jack tilted his head as he silently reminder her that they weren’t done. With practiced stealth the two moved away from the doorway and hurried down the corridors, headed for the location that Jack had sent in his message to Sky – a lone trash can just inside the fifth floor of the stairwell. As he and Z headed to the door, they glanced both directions and Jack carefully opened the door to the stairwell. 

Inside saw the burnished silver container and he thrust the two morphers into the slot, knowing that they’d already been filling the can with paper and other dry trash to keep Tommy from having to dive into the bottom of the can to get the morphers.

As soon as they settled in place Jack turned and nodded to Z, and her other selves merged back with her. Since they were already in the staircase they headed down to the third floor and exited, circling back to the elevators and pressing the button to take them back up to the command level where they were going to wait with Charlie and her people.

As they waited for the elevator Jack thought that all that was left was the waiting, and once they set off the alarms, it would all be about timing.

-x-

On the hour Tommy stood along with his team and the members of SPD in the woods, morphed and ready to facilitate both Kim and Beth’s rescue but the end of this occupation by Charlie and her people. Sky pointed to Tommy and he nodded, knowing that it was finally time.

In seconds he was invisible and he rushed towards the doors at the HQ before him.

Getting inside was simpler than he had expected. The guards were on a schedule from the looks of it and had just left before he carefully pushed open the door. Then he was in the stairwell, away from any prying eyes. In his hands he had the tracking device and it vibrated in his hand slightly as he climbed the stairs. Each flight he climbed made the machine vibrate harder, and when he finally reached the fifth floor it silently buzzed in his hands like crazy. 

His eyes lit on the trash can and moved towards it. Inside he saw a bright glint and he shoved his hand inside, coming in contact with what he immediately recognized as a morpher. 

Grasping the item, he pulled out Beth’s Nova morpher, and he quickly shoved it under his arm so he could fish for Kim’s gauntlet. As soon as he had it in hand he shoved it on his wrist for safe keeping before he pressed a button on his tracker to move onto the second location. As it vibrated lowly he rushed up the staircase once again, hurriedly following the machine as it guided him to his wife and daughter.

Another few minutes and he was before the door, which looked locked. He stared at it, thinking that perhaps he was supposed to somehow bust through it before he decided to just try the door handle. Unsurprised he found it gave way, allowing him in. Obviously somewhere in the security system Z and Jack had allowed him to open the door without a code and he smiled briefly behind his helmet.

Quickly he opened and closed the door, knowing that a door opening and closing on its own would be noticed, if anyone did actually come down the corridor and then turned to see the metal cage at the far end of the room he was now in. And within it… the two women that meant the world to him.

“Someone called for a rescue?” said Tommy’s voice from out of nowhere, forcing both Beth and Kim’s heads to jerk up as they searched for the man behind the disembodied voice.

Before their eyes Tommy dissolved into view, two morphers in his hands. He was across the room and at the cage doors before either woman could react, pulling up just shy of the bars as their thrust the morphers through the spaces of the bars. 

 

“Thanks Dad,” replied Beth as she swiftly took her morpher from her father’s hand even as her mom gripped her own morpher and her husband’s wrist instead of simply taking it from him.

“Beth and I already worked out how we’re getting out of here. Can you get out the same way you got in?” questioned Kim, concerned instantly that Tommy had just traded himself for them as he hadn’t opened the cage they were in, leading her to believe that their escape routes were going to have to be different.

“Jack and Z, the two people that are helping with this rescue are making sure that Charlie and her people are a bit… occupied so I have plenty of time to ghost out of here. But I need you two to get moving and go back to the auxiliary base.”

Beth turned her head, her eyes narrowing as she parsed her father’s voice. After years of learning the signs from her mother, uncles and aunts, she knew when he was leaving something out.

“Are you going back to the base as well?”

Tommy frowned, his eyes moving to stare at Beth from behind his visor before he felt Kim’s grip tighten on his wrist. He hadn’t wanted to tell either of them about the plan that was moments from being underway in front of the SPD HQ they now stood in that would pit whatever forces Charlie had against Sky’s people and the Dino Thunder team.

“Tommy… what’s going on?”

“Jack and Z are leading Charlie into a trap. In about a minute the fire alarms will sound and the emergency protocol of the building will start locking down rooms, which will either trap her people here or force them out to the lobby and then out of the building. Sky is betting on the later and the teams are all waiting for them in the courtyard.”

“Then that’s where I’ll teleport us,” announced Beth as she strapped her morpher in place.

“No,” stated Tommy, his tone of voice brooking no argument, even though he knew he’d get one.

“Thomas Oliver, you know you don’t get to make those kinds of decisions,” stated Kim, her words chilling Beth to the bone.

She remembered that tone and was glad her mom’s ire was focused on her dad.

“Beautiful, please… you and Beth have had a rough enough few days…”

Kimberly instantly knew what he was referring to and shut her eyes even as her head fell forward. Since the moment that they’d recognized the connection between them during her rescue from Mesagog’s island they’d both realized the double edged sword it represented. She had used it days ago to spur him to escape and now she knew that she had failed in shielding him from the pain that Charlie’s torture had caused her.

“Guys…” Beth started, interrupting her parents’ moment, unsure of exactly what was going on.

“Look, I can’t tell you what to do, so if you need to be out there… then you need to leave with Beth now.”

“I love you,” said Kim quickly, her hand releasing Tommy’s wrist even as she yanked her gauntlet from his grasp.

“Love you too. I’ll see you both out there…”

Kim slid her gauntlet in place even as Tommy disappeared from view and the door leading out of the room opened and closed suddenly even as the entire building suddenly was engulfed in a horrific blaring alarm, the walls pulsing red as the diversion was launched.

Kim looked to Beth and straightened herself to her full height even as she slapped her gauntlet onto her wrist. She was NOT leaving her husband here or her team to fight. 

“We’re going to the courtyard to join the other teams. Let’s go!”

Beth nodded and she strapped her own morpher in place. Two ranger power up calls later, Beth had keyed in the time and place for the time jumps and then with a single touch of her finger, she and Kim were gone.


	10. Rock and a Hard Place - Teaser

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim and Beth are out, while Tommy, Z and Jack need to get out before the battle begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! I want to start off with a sincere apology. I never intended to have such a long delay in posts on this story (or anything else I was working on) however things in real life have conspired to keep me away from this story as well as fandom since December. I’m offering as a show of ‘good faith’ this teaser to the entire chapter 10 of Legacy of Valor and want to reassure everyone that this story will be completed. Besides that I just want to thank every person who has favorited, reviewed, alerted or added my work to a community over the years. Thank you!

Tommy was down the stairs and through the doorway, still invisible to everyone who waited outside the tree line even as the rangers stood and waited for his exit, along with their double agents… and Kim and Beth. He moved carefully, concerned that if he reappeared before getting to cover the whole rescue and assault could be blown.

As he got closer he smiled behind his helmet as he saw his team standing together, Kira’s hand gripped around Conner’s bicep even as Trent and Ethan seemed nervous and jumpy – the two stood near one another, feet and legs moving in repetition as they had to stay put.

Moments later the brush before them parted and suddenly Tommy was among them, dropping his invisibility and finding everyone turning to focus on him.

“Kim? Beth?” asked Kira anxiously.

“They should be here…”

Before he could even continue his thought a small portal appeared behind the other SPD rangers, and from it stepped a uniformed Kimberly and Beth.

Tommy was across the space in seconds, grasping Kim to him in a tight hug, her arms circling his waist. Beth stood there, as did everyone else, watching the black and pink dino thunder rangers reunite. Kira leaned into Conner even as Syd grasped Sky’s hand at the sight of the two rangers, both of whom had their own reputations as well as the one they held together… the model of ranger love. 

A long moment later Tommy released her and turned to Beth, his hand reaching up to clasp her shoulder. Beth nodded, her eyes unreadable behind her visor so she covered her father’s hand with hers. Then Tommy broke away from the family reunion, turning to regard Sky, Kim and Beth mirroring him.

“Sky, where…” began Tommy before Kim cut him off.

“So, where’s Charlie and her people? Cause I have a bone to pick with that bitch,” asked Kimberly, the raw edge to her voice cutting her team to the bone with the pain and animosity it revealed even as it focused everyone back to the matter at hand.

“That’s a great question. Where’s the bad guys?” asked Conner from his space beside Sky in the woods.

“And Z and Jack,” remarked Syd, worried for her friends.

“I can’t imagine Charlie taking the easy way out. She’ll have to be convinced,” explained Sky as he looked up to the top floor of the SPD HQ and felt his heart start to hammer in his chest. If Jack and Z had been caught…

Suddenly the front doors to the SPD building opened as Jack and Z hurried across the courtyard, calling loudly about the fire on the seventh floor, even though there was none and there wasn’t anyone outside to hear them that didn’t know it was a ruse. As they did so they homed in on the place that Sky had assured them they’d be waiting and dove through the underbrush into the waiting group of rangers. The two scanned the collected group of colorful uniforms and breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the pink and black dino thunder rangers and Nova.

“Sorry we’re late,” said Z with a small smile even as Bridge, Syd and Sky moved to greet them.

“Were they following?” asked Sam quickly, his tone nervous as well as anxious.

“We should have everyone out here pretty soon,” remarked Jack, turning back and looking at the still closed doors in concern. If they screwed up…

Finally the doors of the building opened, revealing Broodwing and several of his allies, followed by Morgana. The rangers looked around at one another even as the blaring siren within the building kept going. Only after another long few minutes did Charlie and her team emerge. And with that Sky stepped out from the foliage and led his people out onto the courtyard to confront her.

“Charlie!”

“You,” she spat back, recognizing now the trick for what it was as the line of rangers face her and her allies.

“Surrender now and I will do everything I can to guarantee you will be treated fairly,” announced Sky, knowing for a fact that the universal government that the SPD did actually answer to ‘unofficially’ would want her out of the way in a more permanent manner, lest she ever became a threat like this again.

“You should know me better than that Tate,” Charlie retorted even as her hand went for her gun on her hip, “a “True” ranger would never surrender!”

A split second later Charlie had pulled the laser pistol from its holster and fired, even as the rangers before her moved, racing to engage the enemy before them… and the battle was on!

-End Chapter 10 teaser-


	11. Rock and a Hard Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Full chapter 10... Kim and Beth are out, while Tommy, Z and Jack need to get out before the battle can begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! My most sincere apologies about the HUGE delay for this chapter being completed and posted; it has been more of a struggle than I would like to focus on any kind of writing and so this chapter and the ones that follow will most likely be in fits and spurts. However this is the full chapter and the fight has finally arrived… Now, let’s get to the story…

Tommy was down the stairs and through the doorway, still invisible to everyone who waited outside the tree line even as the rangers stood and waited for his exit, along with their double agents… and Kim and Beth. He moved carefully, concerned that if he reappeared before getting to cover the whole rescue and assault could be blown.

As he got closer he smiled behind his helmet as he saw his team standing together, Kira’s hand gripped around Conner’s bicep even as Trent and Ethan seemed nervous and jumpy – the two stood near one another, feet and legs moving in repetition as they had to stay put.

Moments later the brush before them parted and suddenly Tommy was among them, dropping his invisibility and finding everyone turning to focus on him.

“Kim? Beth?” asked Kira anxiously.

“They should be here…”

Before he could even continue his thought a small portal appeared behind the other SPD rangers, and from it stepped a uniformed Kimberly and Beth.

Tommy was across the space in seconds, grasping Kim to him in a tight hug, her arms circling his waist. Beth stood there, as did everyone else, watching the black and pink dino thunder rangers reunite. Kira leaned into Conner even as Syd grasped Sky’s hand at the sight of the two rangers, both of whom had their own reputations as well as the one they held together… the model of ranger love. 

A long moment later Tommy released her and turned to Beth, his hand reaching up to clasp her shoulder. Beth nodded, her eyes unreadable behind her visor so she covered her father’s hand with hers. Then Tommy broke away from the family reunion, turning to regard Sky, Kim and Beth mirroring him.

“Sky, where…” began Tommy before Kim cut him off.

“So, where’s Charlie and her people? Cause I have a bone to pick with that bitch,” asked Kimberly, the raw edge to her voice cutting her team to the bone with the pain and animosity it revealed even as it focused everyone back to the matter at hand.

“That’s a great question. Where’s the bad guys?” asked Conner from his space beside Sky in the woods.

“And Z and Jack,” remarked Syd, worried for her friends.

“I can’t imagine Charlie taking the easy way out. She’ll have to be convinced,” explained Sky as he looked up to the top floor of the SPD HQ and felt his heart start to hammer in his chest. If Jack and Z had been caught…

Suddenly the front doors to the SPD building opened as Jack and Z hurried across the courtyard, calling loudly about the fire on the seventh floor, even though there was none and there wasn’t anyone outside to hear them that didn’t know it was a ruse. As they did so they homed in on the place that Sky had assured them they’d be waiting and dove through the underbrush into the waiting group of rangers. The two scanned the collected group of colorful uniforms and breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the pink and black dino thunder rangers and Nova.

“Sorry we’re late,” said Z with a small smile even as Bridge, Syd and Sky moved to greet them.

“Were they following?” asked Sam quickly, his tone nervous as well as anxious.

“We should have everyone out here pretty soon,” remarked Jack, turning back and looking at the still closed doors in concern. If they screwed up…

Finally the doors of the building opened, revealing Broodwing and several of his allies, followed by Morgana. The rangers looked around at one another even as the blaring siren within the building kept going. Only after another long few minutes did Charlie and her team emerge. And with that Sky stepped out from the foliage and led his people out onto the courtyard to confront her.

“Charlie!”

“You,” she spat back, recognizing now the trick for what it was as the line of rangers face her and her allies.

“Surrender now and I will do everything I can to guarantee you will be treated fairly,” announced Sky, knowing for a fact that the universal government that the SPD did actually answer to ‘unofficially’ would want her out of the way in a more permanent manner, lest she ever became a threat like this again.

“You should know me better than that Tate,” Charlie retorted even as her hand went for her gun on her hip, “a “True” ranger would never surrender!”

A split second later Charlie had pulled the laser pistol from its holster and fired, even as the rangers before her moved, racing to engage the enemy before them… and the battle was on!

Sky dodged the blast and reached for his own weapon. The senior staff of the SPD didn’t have morphers any longer but their skills were still as sharp as they ever were. Yet before he could engage Charlie he saw a flash of pink move past his peripheral vision and fired off a few covering shots before watching as the pink Dino Ranger launched into a snap kick, sending Charlie sprawling.

Before he could worry about Kim taking on Charlie alone he saw the black Dino Ranger moving to her side. Years of training, fighting side by side along with the bond the two married rangers had made the instinct to work together impossible to break. The two rangers formed up in battle positions next to one another as if it was instinctual as breathing.

“I believe you haven’t formally met my husband. Charlie; this is the man who is more legend than you will ever understand. And he’s gonna help me whip your ass,” spat Kim.

With a small grin, knowing that if any two people could reign in Charlie’s fanaticism it would be them, Sky tore his attention from that confrontation to survey the rest of the field where he found the battle already underway…

The SPD rangers had immediately sized up the opponents they were facing and acted accordingly. Beth had immediately teamed with her regular partner in crime, Sam. Together the Nova and Omega Rangers were moving to isolate Morgana from her support.

Broodwing had found himself under attack by the red and yellow Dino Thunder Rangers; Kira and Conner targeting the monster with a flurry of kicks and blows. 

The former blue and green SPD rangers, Knox and Xakx were targeted by the white and blue Dino Rangers, Ethan and Trent, being backed up with several members of the SPD squads. Raine and Bradley, the former pink and yellow SPD rangers were equally engaged with the A Squad leader, the blue SPD Ranger William and his team mates.

Realizing that everyone was pretty much engaged, Sky was content to leave the battle to those with uniforms, knowing that his command staff would be prepared to do whatever was required to assure their win.

“Letting others do the hard work?” asked Bridge as he fired on one of Morgana’s goons trying to sneak up on Sam.

“Leaving it to the professionals with morphers,” Sky replied.

“That’s a good idea,” remarked Jack from where he and Z stood behind Syd; neither had any weapon of any kind so they had wisely decided that they’d wait out the situation with their former SPD team mates.

“Although I have to say, I’d hate to be in their shoes right now,” stated Syd, standing at the ready beside Sky.

At Syd’s words Sky shook his head slightly, feeling sorry briefly for Charlie, Morgana and their allies that had found themselves in the cross hairs of not one but three well trained teams, and a pair of legends. As the former team mates stood there watching, the battle raged. Pairs of rangers that had years of practice working together battled foes that hadn’t… and it was nowhere near an even battle.

A sudden magical explosion turned the five sets of eyes towards Morgana, knowing that a burst of dark magic like that had only one origin. Sam and Beth had been sent flying, their armored selves crashing into Broodwing and Kira and Conner, who had been fighting nearly ten yards away. The Nova and Omega rangers leapt to their feet and moved to reengage Morgana.

“Well played sorceress, but rangers don’t fall that easily,” called out Sam as he launched a spinning kick at Morgana’s head, forcing her to retreat even as Beth moved to intercept her, catching her by her arms and holding her in a vice like grip.

“And now it’s time to send you back to where you came from,” stated Beth as Sam dug into a pouch on his belt and pulled forth a containment card. 

Morgana’s eyes widened as she struggled and for a split second she was free as Beth let go of her so she could move out of the way before Morgana was enveloped in the light of the card. After a long minute Morgana was gone and Beth hurried to Sam’s side as he checked the containment card, assured that Morgana was safely stored away.

“One down,” commented Z where she stood with her former team, watching as the battle turned decisively, the SPD teams taking on Charlie’s rangers as well as Morgana’s minions were hurriedly containing them with cards. 

“And more to go. Sky, please tell me we gave the dino thunder team containment cards too…” Bridge questioned, realizing that to end the battle they would need to capture all their opponents.

Sky whipped his eyes to Bridge, not realizing that the teams of dino thunder rangers without SPD backup had no way of securing their foes other than either destroying them or causing them to surrender. And since those two opponents were Broodwing and Charlie, he was certain that surrender was going to be the option not taken…

“Do we have two spare cards?” Sky asked quickly, looking worriedly at his former green ranger.

Jack, Z and Syd glanced at one another and then back to Sky and Bridge. It wasn’t like either of them not to be fully prepared, and Syd personally had to wonder if there was more to this…

“I don’t. Maybe one of the SPD rangers still has one?” replied Bridge with a nervous tone.

Without waiting for a command, Syd pulled forth her communicator, tuning it to the leader frequency, allowing her to contact William and Beth.

“A and B squad leaders report; do you have unused containment cards?”

“I have one,” called William as he verified that his squad had taken care of their targets.

“I have one as well,” announced Beth, nodding to Sam beside her.

“I need you to aid the two dino thunder teams fighting with Broodwing and Charlie. You need to hurry,” Syd directed them, and the two rangers quickly rogered the command and broke out running to the remaining two battles.

After having been flattened by Broodwing when he’d been struck by Beth and Sam, Kira had let loose with a Terra Scream, throwing the villain off of them so they could scramble back up into attack mode. Broodwing shook his head to clear his vision before attacking once again. Kira and Conner engaged him, the two trading kick after fist with the monster before them.

Finally frustrated Conner backed up and reached up, calling for the Shield of Triumph.

With a burst of light and crackle of lightning the weapon appeared in his hand, and he moved forward, Kira a half step behind him as he let forth the power of the shield, the explosions as it detonated against Broodwings armored form. Seconds later he was falling like a cut tree in the forest, slamming hard onto the ground with a huge thud.

Suddenly the B Squad leader, William was there beside them, holding up a card. The two dino rangers looked to him, helmets tipped in questioning.

“Let me take care of taking out the trash,” he stated, turning the card towards Broodwing’s prone body.

“Be our guest,” said Conner, waving a hand out towards Broodwing’s body.

With a minute tap of a gloved finger to the card the light flashed from it, and Broodwing was gone, trapped within the infinite confines of the millimeter thick card in William’s hand.

Sky and Syd watched as William helped Kira and Conner lock up their opponent before they swung their gaze towards where Tommy and Kim had been double teaming the fiercely determined Charlie. They knew that despite their anger at the former ranger, the two dino rangers had been holding back.

“How is Charlie still on her feet?” asked Trent as the other rangers moved to join the audience that had formed around the two legendary rangers and their foe.

“She was a ranger,” Ethan stage whispered, noting Sam’s arrival with Conner and Kira even as Beth had moved to back up her parents… the only ranger among them with any right to do so under the circumstances.

“Still…” Conner began before Kira put a hand on his shoulder as he made a move to join his mentors and team mates.

“They have instilled in all of us the code of Zordon Conner… the last thing they want to do is…” Kira remarked, trailing off as what she wasn’t saying was known by everyone.

Rangers didn’t kill.

Unless there was no other choice.

“Come on!! You’re supposed to be legends!” screamed Charlie as she threw a punch at Tommy, who moved to block it with his hands before showing her backwards with the stopped momentum of her punch. She staggered and glared, her hands coming up to prepare another attack. “Kill me! You want revenge, so do it!”

“In all your studying of ranger history, you missed one important thing,” remarked Kim just as Charlie launched herself at her, causing Kim to levitate out of the way, sending Charlie sprawling. As Tommy watched, his opponent to drug herself up off the ground once more and turned to face him.

He and Kim had been trying to force Charlie to surrender, but the hate and determination in the once red ranger was unlimited. He was starting to worry that unless there was a way to force her capture or surrender that they’d have to take more drastic measures. As he contemplated the thought he saw Beth appear behind Charlie, holding something in her hand and motioning for them to clear out. But Tommy persisted, standing tall in his black uniform, looking through his visor at the woman who in her twisted heart and mind had turned everything that being a ranger stood for and trampled it.

But even though he’d wanted to exact that revenge Charlie was goading them to take for what she’d done to Kim and Beth, he knew that it was the wrong path. He and Kim had been taught a different way, one they’d done their best to instill in the dino thunder rangers, and would one day teach their daughter…

“Rangers don’t kill,” Tommy stated simply, making Charlie’s face freeze in understanding for just a moment as the realization hit her that these two rangers really were what they’d been made out to be in the history books. And that she was nowhere near to what they embodied.

She wasn’t the ranger she should have been… she’d made her choices and they’d taken her here, a place that she wasn’t sure she could ever come back from.

Silence filled the battlefield as Charlie’s red haze of hatred lifted, and she looked around seeing that her allies had fallen and she was all alone. 

Sinking to her knees her eyes swept the ground before her, even as Tommy, Kim and Beth moved forward to take her into custody. Sky, Syd and the command team started forward as well, determined that they’d remove her to SPD HQ and put her in lockdown.

But before anyone could move Charlie struck forward, grabbing her previously lost weapon and put it to her head and pulled the trigger.

Several of the rangers screamed in shock, Kim turning into Tommy as he stood stunned, his arm automatically going around her. Beth stared, watching Charlie’s body slumped on the ground, blood pooling beneath her head. No one here had wanted her dead more than she had when she’d been being tortured, or when she’d tortured her mom, but now…

This wasn’t how she’d been raised. This wasn’t how rangers died… even former ones.

She turned her head to look at the others; Conner held Kira in a mirror to her mom and dad, Trent and Ethan close by. Sam and William had moved to her side as well and she nodded to them. But seeing the saddened faces of Sky, Syd, Bridge, Jack and Z, all of whom had fought Charlie when she’d originally returned from who knew where the way she was now… or had been.

She wondered what had happened then, and if it had been her would she have come back broken and filled with rage like Charlie had. Or because she’d been brought up the way she had, instilled with the principles of a ranger from so early on that nothing would have changed.

She hoped that she would never be tested that way, but as she tucked away her unused containment card and moved to stand with her parents, who wordlessly wrapped her in their embrace, she wanted to believe that she would do her parents proud.

Like she always had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, my deepest regrets on the delay of getting this update out there… next chapter will be the aftermath (which may or may not wrap this up… if not then there will just be an epilogue),
> 
> Ms. J.


	12. Nothing Stays the Same

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the SPD saved, it’s time for goodbyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note at end...

Sky had quickly moved to right his listing ship, directing Sky and Bridge to recall their cadets and support staff. There was work to be done and he wanted it to be accomplished sooner rather than later. Charlie’s path of destruction needed to be cleansed so the SPD could move forward.

The first part of that had been to have Charlie’s body moved off the battlefield and to the morgue. 

Z and Jack had said their temporary goodbyes to their former comrades, assuring them that they would not be strangers going forward.

Sam and William had quickly organized the SDP squads to coordinate the cleanup of the facility, directing the support staff to locate and get the cadets resettled, review all the tech and security and contact those organizations and governments that were allied with the SPD to provide a status update. It was a lot to do and Sky wanted it done in under 24 hrs.

And Beth had been given the opportunity to spend more time with her ranger family before they were sent back to their own time…

After a day, Sky was able to confirm that everything was in order and that they were ready to send the Dino Thunder team home. The six member team stood before the SPD leadership and the entirety of the SPD organization which covered the same ground that had been a battlefield less than 24 hours earlier.

“Thank you all again,” said Sky, even as Syd moved to hug Kimberly and Kira before making the rounds with the male Dino Thunder rangers.

“Well we were glad we could help,” Kira answered quickly for all of them, smiling at Conner before he took her hand in his.

“Will everything be okay with the captured former rangers and Morgana’s people?” Ethan questioned, since the Dino Thunder team had been given a place

“Yes. We’ve put in new security protocols to keep this from ever happening again,” Bridge announced, looking to his tech team with pride.

“What about Charlie?” asked Kim, her eyes still haunted by the sight less than 24 hours earlier.

There was a long silence that no one seemed quite ready to break, until Syd took Sky’s hand, in front of the entire parade assembled SPD, making him straighten even further before he squeezed her hand gently before speaking for the first time what he and his command staff had decided only hours earlier.

“She’d been declared MIA a long time back… now it can be officially called killed in the line of duty.”

“But… she tried to kill you all. You’d let her be classified as killed as a member of your SPD?” Conner sputtered, aghast.

“A lot of what happened wasn’t really her fault. We never knew what drove her or the other A-Squad members to turn evil,” Syd explained with a soft, sorrowful expression.

“So we felt it only fair to give her in death what she so desperately wanted when she was alive; the full honors of a ranger,” explained Sky, his eyes serious as he watched the rangers before him digest his words.

Tommy and Kim looked from one another to the rest of their team. Shock, anger and disbelief filled the younger rangers’ faces. The idea that the woman who had tried to kill them, tortured Kim and Beth was being treated like she’d never been a bad guy was just staggering to them. 

“So she’s gonna get a pass?” asked Ethan, realizing that what they’d just been through probably would get minimized due to Charlie’s reinstatement.

“We need to heal the wounds in the SPD that her activities have caused. This is a way to do that,” replied Sky.

“So that’s it? Kim and Beth get tortured, your people get attacked and held hostage so you give the person responsible a fancy funeral and call it a day?” growled Conner, his eyes narrowing.

“Conner,” said Kira in a quiet, admonishing tone even as she laid a hand on his shoulder, trying to rein in his anger.

“It’s for everyone’s benefit,” added Bridge, even as he noted how Sky was becoming more uncomfortable with the discussion.

“Guys,” Tommy quickly added, making his team turn to him, “it’s not our decision to make. And for once I’m glad we didn’t have to make the hard decision… we were just the cavalry.”

At his words, Conner briefly nodded, looking to Kira with a tight smile. Ethan and Trent shared a look before they all turned their eyes back to Sky. For the Dino Thunder team, the commander of the SPD looked tired. What they didn’t recognize Sky’s own people did; that he looked to have aged a year in a week. The decision to give Charlie a ranger’s funeral was more about helping them move on from everything that had happened more than it was to give Charlie something she didn’t deserve.

“And again, we’re very glad Beth took the initiative to bring you here to come to the rescue… but…” began Sky, even as he looked to where Beth stood with Sam and the leaders of the SPD Squads.

“It’s time…”remarked Kim quietly, looking to the woman who her daughter would grow up to be with damp eyes.

“This is the part where you wipe our memory, right?” asked Conner with a downcast expression.

“We can’t send you back knowing about any of this. I mean besides the knowledge about SPD and the future, if any of you remembered Beth’s future…” Bridge remarked, noting Beth standing beside Sam, both in uniform albeit with helmets removed; the elite team of rangers, which for Beth only made sense considering her heritage.

Tommy and Kim shared a brief but poignant look. Would knowing that Beth was destined to follow her parents, her uncles and aunts footsteps made a difference in how they raised her? Would they try and block her from that path, knowing the trials and pain it could cause?

It made a lot of sense to send them back without that knowledge. And what would happen would happen, without any intervention.

“Understandable,” commented Ethan as his brain reflected time/space paradoxes and alternate universes.

“So we’re going right back to where you took us from?” Kira questioned.

“Yes. I won’t have any problem doing that,” said Beth, before she turned her head to look to Sky and Syd, getting a smile and nod from both of them.

Beth handed her helmet to Sam before she crossed the feet separating her from her family, crushing her mom in a hard hug before moving on to her father, then to her aunt and uncles. She swallowed hard, thinking of how things would be different for her now, having had this chance to see them like this, fight with them… the bond between her and her family had always been tight, but now the memories of seeing and being with them when they’d been in uniform wouldn’t be just stories to her. They’d be something she’d experienced.

Sam moved forward, handing Beth her helmet and she gave him a smile before she snapped it into place. Behind her she heard Sky take a step forward and knew he had the memory wiping device in his hands.

“Thank you again rangers,” Sky said, before the flash of light hit the Dino Thunder team, clearing the last days from their memory. Once it was done, Sky turned to Beth, “Hurry and take them home.”

Quickly she reached to her morpher and the portal opened up, and this time she allowed it to envelop them all, instead of them walking through it as they had before. Moments later they were all in the bookstore, back to their places and Beth smiled behind her helmet before slipping back through the portal, closing it behind her as she returned back to her own time.

-x-

The five former Dino Thunder rangers stood, watching the line continue to slowly move even as Trent kept signing autographs. Tommy’s head swiveled behind them briefly when he thought he saw the flash of a camera but there was nothing there but racks of books. Shrugging he looked back to Kim who was staring up at him.

“Everything okay?”

He nodded. His eyes glanced down at the pile of books Trent was signing. Danger Ranger… there was no doubting what had happened in his life to inspire the graphic novel, even if his fans and the general public would never know. Trent had taken his time as a ranger and made something positive out of it; something that people were identifying with. It made him proud to have helped the young man before him find that within himself.

Yet, if Tommy had to be honest, all of his team had moved on to do outstanding things, keeping the legacy of being a former ranger and making the world a better place. She smiled as he looked to Kim beside him, and her eyes widened a bit as his thoughts spilled ever so slightly through their connection and she swallowed hard, reaching to take his hand in hers.

“Do you miss it that much?” she asked quietly.

“Not really…” he said, even if she knew it was only partially the truth. He wouldn’t be the man she loved if the sense of duty wasn’t still in him. Then he smiled and gave her a wink, “Daily life these days is an adventure in its own right.”

She chuckled at the thought of their toddler at home, and their work with the teens of Reefside – both in the classroom and the gym. Life was more than interesting, yet…

“But helping others… saving the world…” she began, knowing that for everything they did now, their time as rangers had meant saving not just their city but often the Earth and universe.

“We had our time Beautiful. Now we change individual people’s lives every day with what we do. Look at the four of them and tell me that being in uniform means more to the world than being a human being that cares about others, that does what they can to make the world a better place,” Tommy remarked even as he pulled Kim into his side, his fingers curling over her hip.

Kim glanced at Kira, Ethan, Conner and Trent and realized that it wasn’t being rangers that had truly made them into the extraordinary four people they were. It was what they’d gained emotionally from the experience, from the guidance of her and Tommy that had put them on the path that led them to where they were now. 

And besides the young people they worked with every day, they had their daughter now that they were raising, helping make her into the best person she could be. At that thought Kim looked back to Tommy and smiled, leaning her head into his shoulder as they both watched the line of people pass by Trent, the pride they had in him, in all of their young former ranger team swelling within.

-x- 

Epilogue

Once she’d returned, Beth had gone straight to the command center to speak with her commander. When she asked for leave, Sky only smiled and agreed without any argument. Beth nodded her thanks to him. After everything she’d been through in the last week she really needed the time away.

Without any further delay she placed her hand on her morpher, creating a time portal and stepped through it, arriving exactly where she wanted – home.

Looking up at the blue and white house along the edge of the forest she smiled. It had been ages since she’d been able to take any time off, and no matter how much time passed, the place still looked the same. She moved to the door, knocking slightly before walking in. Crossing the threshold she called out, “I’m home,” even as she heard voices in the kitchen and she moved towards them.

“Beth?” said Kim from the kitchen doorway, a smile crossing her face when she heard her daughter’s voice from the living room.

Beth smiled back, noting the difference in her mom from the much younger woman she’d just seen. Grey streaks were starting to sneak into one temple of Kim’s caramel colored hair. Of course it was nothing compared to her dad…

“Hi princess, how are you?” asked Tommy as he moved from behind Kim and started for his daughter.

Beth moved to power down and caught her father in a hug as he moved to her position. The black hair of his youth now was salt and pepper, even through his beard. She hugged him for a long moment before she released him and went to hug her mom.

“What brings you home?” Kimberly asked as she moved to Tommy’s side, placing a hand on his shoulder as she leaned her chin on his arm.

“I needed a break… there were… some problems at SPD and I…” Beth began, moving from her father’s embrace. 

Tommy and Kim looked to one another briefly, the silent communication that Beth had grown up with all her life still intact with her parents. She knew that once the words SPD and problems were out of her mouth the rangers within both of them would immediately come to the fore. Decades out of uniform would never dull the sense of duty in legends like her parents.

“You know you can talk to us about anything,” Kim reminded her daughter, catching her hand with hers, and prompting a moment of déjà vu for the younger woman.

“I know… that’s why I came here. But I think you both better sit down.”

Knowing looks crossed the faces of Kim and Tommy. Having been rangers and ended up raising one, starting a conversation with those kinds of words meant something big was about to be said. Turning they moved to the sofa, Tommy instinctively wrapping an arm around Kim’s shoulders even as Beth sat down on the coffee table in front of them, leaning her elbows on her knees as she looked at her parents and took a deep breath.

Talking to them now wouldn’t change anything… and not only did they deserve to know, she needed to be able to talk to them about… everything; the torture, the fear, and Charlie’s suicide… She knew that by talking to them about it that she’d get the perspective and support she needed, because she always had gotten it from them.

All she needed to do was start at the beginning.

“So, you remember Uncle Trent’s first book signing in Reefside? Well, there’s more to the story of that day than that…” she started, sitting before her parents and smiling as she got ready to tell them what they’d forgotten for nearly 24 years.

-End -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay everyone, I hope you all enjoyed this addition to the Always a Ranger universe. 
> 
> Author’s Note: Okay, now, for the news… I’ve decided at this point this will be my last fic posting. I have been at this now for 17 years and I have found that I just do not have the time, energy or drive like I used to for fanfic writing. *IF* a stellar idea comes my way I won’t say I wouldn’t come back for a one shot, but the days of long, involved chaptered fic are over. Thank you everyone for all your loyalty over the years. I cannot imagine that this would have been worth it without you all. 
> 
> Ms. J.


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